Only in My Dreams
by Spark of Life
Summary: After Battle City, Malik finds a book that forces Seto and Katsuya to dream about each other. Will this be the catalyst to turn two great rivals into lovers? Yaoi SetoKatsuya MokubaShizuka and YuugiAnzu
1. Idle Hands

Only in My Dreams

Rating: M

Parings: Kaiba Seto/Jounouchi Katsuya Kaiba Mokuba/Kawai Shizuka Motou Yuugi/Mazaki Anzu (The two other couples will factor into the formation of Kaiba and Jou)

Summary-After Battle City, life goes back to normal. Yuugi-tachi goes back to school, Seto and Jou continue to bicker, you know, normal. However, that all changes when Malik cast a spell on both Seto and Jou that forces them to dream about the other. As the dreams become more intimate, so do their feelings about one another. Will this be the catalyst that changes two great enemies into lovers?

Prologue-Idle Hands 1

8:00 AM Cairo

The sun begins its scorching path across the eastern sky. In the land of the Nile, it is sweltering. However, for the native residents, it was just another day. One such resident was on an important mission. The entire team depended on him to complete this important mission. The only person who stood in his way was a middle aged woman and her bazaar stand.

"Here are your groceries, Malik." The woman smiles. Here was a very handsome and polite young man.

"Thank you!" he responds. He liked the lady. Sometimes she would bake him and his sister some homemade goodies. It has been like this ever since he came back from the city of Domino.

Malik takes out the amount of money equal to the price of the groceries. The woman also puts in a pomegranate pie. "That looks good." Malik was visibly drooling at the sight of the pie.

The grocer remembered something important. "Oh, before I forget!" She disappears into her home and comes out with an ancient gilded tome. A shadow-like aura radiated around the tome. "This book was passed down throughout my family line. I have no idea what this book says. However, I believe that either you or your sister might know what the purpose of this manuscript."

The grocer hands the gilded tome to the excited hands of the Egyptian. That energy filled the platinum blonde with giddiness. He then began to hug the grocer with fervor.

"Malik, son, you're choking me!" The woman breathed out. Malik let go of the woman. "Thank you."

"Allah be with you, child!" the grocer woman waved as the Egyptian prepared to leave.

The young Ishtar youth packed the groceries on the back of his motorcycle and revs the machine to life. He drives off towards the archeological site where he and his sister lived.

It has been three months since the Battle City Tournament. Malik has been starting to rebuild his life ever since his yami was let loose on the world. However, thanks to the Pharaoh and his young charge, the creature known as Marik was halted in his tracks. Isis and the Egyptian youth returned to their home. To raise money to repair the damage done to the lives of others, the brother and sister pair rented their domicile to archeologists. Their home was turned into a living place for a family of archeologists. The family was a joy to have, even though they refused to believe in the Millennium Items and the Shadow Games, dismissing it as wild fantasies.

Malik reaches the makeshift complex and dumps the groceries in the refrigerator and heads towards his room. However, before he could make it, a tall, olive-skinned woman stopped the Egyptian youth. "Good morning, Isis!" Malik smiled. "Good morning, Malik!"

"I got the groceries for the day and something interesting. The grocer woman gave me this tome!" Malik showed his sister the gilded tome that radiated the same shadow energy that Malik felt when he first got it. "I read it on the way" Malik continued "and it seems that it belongs to the ancient High Priest Seth. I'm going to translate the text, see what I can glean from it and maybe cast some spells."

Isis looked at her brother. Sometimes he could be mischievous. Isis let loose a long-suffering sigh. "Just be careful, Malik! Sometimes there are irreversible consequences to the spells."

Malik didn't even let her finish when he bolted to his room. He locked the door. With the Millennium Rod that Kaiba, who was the true wielder of that Millennium Item, refused to take in his hands, he began to inscribing circles on the ground. Ethereal wisps rose from the circle and filled the room with its pale light. Malik swung the Rod in a ceremonial fashion leading the wisps with the golden staff. He began to think of who would be the targets of the spell.

"If I choose the Pharaoh's young charge, then the ancient will suspect some foul play and most likely come after me! If I choose my sister or any other wielder of a Millennium Item, they will be angry with me and most likely try to take revenge on me. So, who would be the appropriate targets?"

Malik remembered on the Kaiba Blimp there were two people arguing like there was no tomorrow. Something like stay away from me, make inu. Your stupidity is contagious. And the retort would be something like I can't help it that a jerk like you wants to be around me. Visions of cinnamon and golden hair upon two completely opposite people ran through the Egyptian's head. Kaiba and Jou, as opposite as the spectrum goes. How interesting it would be to have that person invade the other's dreams.

"They can't stand each other in real life. How much more would they bicker in the dream world." Malik laughed at the thought and began to etch crude drawings of the pair into the ground. He stands up and holds his right index and middle finger towards his face as if in total concentration.

LIGHT AND DARKNESS INTERTWINE  
FORCES OF THE HEART COMBINE  
MAKE THE FORMS OF ENEMIES SEEN  
INSIDE THE OTHER PERSON'S DREAM

Malik repeatedly chanted this phrase as the ethereal wisps floated heavenward. When all of the wisps were released, the Egyptian sat on his bed. Smiling to himself, while he was wondering what sort of dreams the pair would have, Malik realized that he himself would not have access to their dreams. "Oh well, not like I couldn't tell what they would dream about.

2:30 PM Domino 2

The purple spiked head known to others as the King of Games was staring out the window. With the Battle City Tournament over, only school would occupy his time. But all of his thoughts would always turn to the azure-eyed dancer that stole his heart. Today would be the day that he would ask her out. He loved her ever since that fateful day when Yuugi saw Anzu working the afternoon shift at Burger World. Sacrificing her grades for her personal career, it was a wonder that she could go on. Yuugi swore that he would personally see to it that her dream was realized. There was a money prize attached to Kaiba's Tournament, a sum of one million yen. Yuugi stored it away so that one day, after graduation, he would buy her a ticket to New York City, an apartment close to either NYU and the Julliard School of the Theater Arts, two very famous schools that someone with her caliber would love to attend, and three years tuition. If the spiky bishounen tried hard enough, he could even see her pregnant with his kids, a white picket fence, and little Yuugis running around, driving him crazy.

But all of that hinged upon him and the question he had to ask. The bell reverberated throughout the school, signaling that the place of learning no longer had control over the students today. Yuugi had told Anzu to meet him in the science lab after school and she was probably waiting for him already. He hurried as fast as his little legs could take him. What he didn't know was that two people were following him, determined to see his plan succeed.

Honda and Jou sneaked behind Yuugi. They overheard him talking to Anzu and knew that most likely, he would lose his nerve. So they would have to make sure that he was locked in the room so that he would not escape. He was their friend and they wanted the best for him. If it meant locking him in the science room so that he could get out what he wanted to say, then so be it. Once the two 'victims' were inside, Honda and Jou placed a chair under the doorknob.

Yuugi saw the object of his affection staring at him, waiting for him to say something. 'This is so much more difficult than dueling' The diminutive duelist thought. 'and the stakes are so much higher. If she does not agree, then it would very awkward to be around her.' All these thoughts and more were circling around Yuugi's head. He lost his nerve and silently headed for the door.

Anzu waited for Yuugi to speak. He must have something important to say, she figured, if he wanted to meet with her like this. She had an idea of what he might say and to say the least, she was flattered. Yuugi was a very likable guy, always putting his friends first. He was so cute in her opinion and was innocent which added to his charm. There was the time that he caught her working and did not tell the school. He was very endearing. She also realized that many of the girls were pining after the spiky haired sophomore. It would be very interesting indeed to be courted by the reputed King of Games. However, Yuugi seemed to be intent on asking her but to her anyway, it looked like he was losing his nerve. Anzu fought boredom and waited. She saw him heading to the door and she inwardly sighed. The azure-eyed dancer realized how nervous he was so Anzu smiled trying to relieve the tension. "So Yuugi, what is it that you wanted to ask me?

Yuugi shook his head nervously. "I ... I forgot!" He recanted, mentally slapping himself for his pathetic excuse. All he wanted was to get out before he made a fool of himself. However, when he turned the knob and pushed, the door refused to yield. The innocent sophomore heard a hushed voice on the other side that distinctively sounded like one Jounouchi Katsuya. "You tell her or else you don't come out." Yuugi took a deep breath and spewed out the words he has practiced for so long.

"Anzuwouldyouliketogooutwithmesometime?" Anzu caught some of what the crimson-eyed duelist had said, however, for his sake, she wanted him to repeat what he had just said. "Yuugi, take a breath and repeat what you just said!" Yuugi took a deep breath just like the object of his affection had advised him. "Anzu, would you like to go out with me sometime?"

Anzu walked towards this cute guy and wrapped her arms around him. "I would love too!" Yuugi's legs turned to jelly and he collapsed into her arms. He started to cry out of joy.

The science door flew open and the two conspirators, Honda Hirito and Jounouchi Katsuya, materialized from the entrance. Hugging and giving their congratulations to the new couple, Honda and Jou were truly happy for them.

After the happy scene and the dressing down by the principal for locking the two in the science lab, Jou headed towards his locker. He took out all of the things that he would need for homework tonight. The golden haired boy also took his art supplies. Maybe paint a picture of the happy couple. Yes, unbeknownst to everyone but a select few, Jou was an artist. It was an escape from the constant beating that his loser of a father subjected him to. He painted everything, landscapes, people, surrealism, everything. His favorite subject, however, was people he encountered in life. The first subject that he drew was of his blue-eyed tormentor Kaiba Seto. All in midnight blue and dressed in his long flowing, white trench coat, his subject was a menacing sight to behold. Sometimes he would take out his frustrations caused by the real Kaiba and yell all of the comebacks that he'd remember at the doppelganger. His best friends have some of their respective paintings also.

Heading towards the parking lot, the honey-eyed teen walked towards his motorcycle, which happened to be parked next to the blood red Lamborghini of his favorite person in the whole wide world, Kaiba Seto. To make matters worse, said brunette teen was heading towards him, briefcase in hand. He wore the trademark Kaiba smirk.

"Well, well, if it isn't the make inu!" the blue-eyed CEO snidely commented. "It is so endearing that you're waiting for your master to return."

An anger mark appeared on Katsuya's forehead and he shook his fist menacingly. "Look Kaiba, I am in a good mood and not even you can ruin it."

"What has the puppy in a good mood? Was the lunchroom serving double helpings of pizza or is it that the make inu got a question right in class?"

Jou clenched his fist so hard, some blood began to seep from his closed palm. "If you have to know, first my two best friends finally found each other, and two, my sister is coming to live with me and is coming to my school."

Oh, to say that Katsuya was excited that his sister was an understatement. If he was the puppy that Kaiba claimed him to be, his tail would be seriously wagging at the thought of his sister returning to Domino. After his father died of liver failure from the huge consumption of alcohol, the Ministry of Social Services had found a place for Jou to live as an emancipated teen. They also tapped into his late father's funds and paid the rent. He was furthermore given a stipend to live on. Now, his mother allowed Shizuka to stay with him because the man that tormented her throughout her marriage was now dead. Katsuya also had a job running deliveries for a messenger company. It pays the bills and puts food on the table. Life was good. There was only one problem; there was no special someone to share it with. Imoto-chan was good company; however, she wasn't enough to fill the void. Oh sure, he was happy that Yuugi and Anzu were in love, but the beautiful scene struck pangs through his heart. When was Jounouchi Katsuya's turn to find love? There was only one person that he even went as far as liking. But things have changed.

Kaiba's words pierced through the thought-filled mind of Jou. "I want to get to my car. Please stop drooling on it. Dog slobber is very difficult to get off."

Jou couldn't take it. He strode towards his tormentor threatening. "You want to start something?" he asked. Kaiba smirked. A day when he could rile the puppy to anger was a day complete.

As the two prepared to standoff against each other, something in the air changed. The two noticed ethereal wisps of light surround them. Their hearts constricted for a moment and they grabbed onto their respective chests. Kaiba and Jou's breathing rapidly increased. Their legs could no longer support their weight and they fell to the ground.

After a quick second, they regained their senses. They stare blankly at each other for a while. Kaiba found his voice first.

"This never happen!" Kaiba said point-blank, referring to the incident that just occurred. Jou nodded his head in agreement. They walked to their respective vehicles and drove away in silence.

Little did they know of what just transpired!

Kaiba Seto shook his head repeatedly. A sixteen-year-old does not get heart attacks for any reason. "Must be the stress from the office." So he decided that when he got to work, he would play his favorite stress relieving game, Fire My Employees.

Kaiba recollected the words of his koinu. "So the little dweeb finally popped the question to her. About time!" He noticed that there was a twinge of jealousy in the make inu's voice that suggested that he wished that someone would fall in love with him and vice versa. Ha! Love is a wasted emotion. Life, according to Kaiba Seto, is a competition. Love is wasted on the foolish with little control of their lives. It is the same people who created hope. However, in Kaiba's life, there was one exception to that rule and that was Mokuba. His little brother was the blue-eyed teenager's only saving grace. He alone saved Kaiba from being a complete slave to the machine. The longhaired youth was the only person privileged to see his weak and vulnerable side. Between school, work, and Mokuba, there was no place for anyone or anything else in Kaiba's life. Even if Seto could find someone to love, the temptations of his wealth and secrets would drive anyone insane with treachery. If Kaiba was to love anyone, that person had to not care of his wealth and love him for whom he is, flaws and all.

"But there is no one like that in this world!" Figured the cinnamon-haired CEO. Kaiba drove to work, following his routine to the letter.

Shizuka got off the plane and hailed a taxi. It has been a long time since she had seen her onii-chan. She had him and Yuugi to thank for her sight. However, her mother had decided that her brother and his friends were a dangerous crowd. Because of this, Shizuka was sent back to America. It wasn't fair in the strawberry-hair lass's opinion. Onii-chan went out of his way to pay for his sister's sight. He even got the money to pay for the surgery. However, the woman did not even say thanks to him. Now, it didn't matter anymore. Shizuka begged the woman to allow her to come over and comfort her older brother and by happenstance, her mother relented. What she didn't know was that she was never coming back. The strawberry-haired girl packed all of her essentials in three suitcases and headed, with a friend's help to the airport.

The cab arrived at the address that Kat-chan had given her. It was a beautiful and large apartment complex. The apartment number was RE24 3, meaning it was in the R wing of the fifth (E) floor, room number 24. Her trek to find onii-chan's apartment was over. She knocked on the door and there was no response.

"I don't want to be stuck outside." She thought aloud. "Now, if I was my brother and I was locked outside of my house, where would I place my spare key?" She looked around the area and in a potted plant next to the door was that very same key. She unlocked the door to the apartment. The first thing that she noticed on the door was a Kaiba-like doormat. Presumably, onii-chan did not like the guy if he had him as a doormat. She observed the rest of the house. It was a very simple studio apartment, a bachelor's pad if you will. The kitchen, the living room and the dining room were all one room. There was a niche leading to, she presumed, a bathroom and a bedroom. She laid her stuff in the living room section next to the couch. Finding some paper and a pen, she wrote a note to her brother. However, in mid-sentence, Shizuka heard the door rustle and open. A weary Katsuya emerged, crossing the threshold into his apartment.

"Okari, onii-chan!" the strawberry lass shouted. At the familiar voice, the golden-haired teen perked up. Seeing his wonderful sister greet him at the door brought tears to his eyes. He quickly dropped the knapsack on his back and embraced his imoto-chan.

"Tadaima!" he cried. He positioned himself on the couch. "When did you come in, Shi-chan?" "Just a few minutes ago. I found the spare key in the flowerpot outside your door and I let myself in. I hope that's all right!" She spoke the last part unsure if what she did was acceptable.

"Nah, it's all right. Better that you use my key than you waiting outside for who knows how long." Katsuya smiled, a realization went through his head. "Hey, you haven't registered for school yet, have you?" The girl shook her head. "Listen, I have to get to work so I'll drop you off at the school, okay?"

Moments later, Shizuka got on the back of her older brother's bike and they were off to get her registered.

Because of his high intelligence, Kaiba Mokuba was permitted to skip seventh and eighth grades and move on to freshman year high school. The ebony haired child went to register at Domino High where his brother was already attending. Registration was already taking place in the principal's office. As he was about to enter, the door opened and Mokuba's eyes were assaulted with beauty. She had strawberry red hair, creamy skin, and the most stunning sapphire eyes that he had ever seen. Her movements felt slow and purposeful like she was on that Baywatch show. For the first time, his eyes were open and he wanted to partake of this fruit. He also found that his pants were a little bit tighter than a few minutes ago. A lump was lodged in the lavender-eye's throat and his breathing was erratic. He did the only thing that a guy in his position could do. He hid away from the beauty's site. Another person came out of the principal's office, a woman whom Mokuba assumed was the secretary, and called out to this beauty. "Excuse me, Kawai Shizuka-san! You left the order form for your school uniform."

Shizuka turned to face the woman. "Domo arigato gozaimasu!" she smiled at the lady. "Do itashimashite" she replied.

Shizuka walked towards the place where Mokuba was avoiding this beauty. Through ill or good luck, whichever was on Mokuba's side, the two were allowed to meet. Shizuka's eyes raked over the form of the cute guy in front of her. He had shoulder length ebony hair, lovely lavender eyes, and smooth olive colored skin. He was not built in anyway but though he was skinny, his form was attractive. She could get to like this school. "Good afternoon!" she greeted the ebony-haired bishounen. "H... h... hi!" Mokuba stuttered, unable to find his voice. The loquacity that the teen normally possessed was non-operational since the blood that would usually service his brain was sent to ... to other places. Shizuka took this stammering as he was interested in her. She smiled warmed at the teen. "I guess I'll see you around!" She walked away from Mokuba, trying to remember why he looked familiar. Mokuba did the same thing but came up with nothing for the moment. He decided that now would be a good time to see the principal. "I think I'm gonna like this school."

The sun set on the technological fortress also known as Kaiba Corp. It is 9:30 and Kaiba Seto was just getting ready to finish and head home. Shutting down his computers, the young CEO got up from his swivel chair and stretched out the kinks in his body. He headed towards his car and sped towards the mansion built by his stepfather. Seto never did like that man. However, for the sake of his brother, he would do anything, even sell his to the devil, Gozaburo, to insure the safety of otouto-chan.

The large mansion came into Kaiba's view. He took out some device and pressed a button. Immediately, the gate to this mansion flew open. Kaiba parked in the ten car garage. It was a quarter to nine when he made it home. Taking long strides, he made to his bed 10 o'clock on the dot. Seto removed his work clothes, leaving himself in only black silk boxers and a red t-shirt. After he finished his ablutions in the bathroom, the blue-eyed CEO was finally ready to sleep. Yeah, it was a lonely life, but who would be willing to share this with him. That person had to be strong-willed to stand a life of late-night arrivals. There was one, in Kaiba's opinion. However, now relationships with that person are strained, to say the least.

It was ten minutes later when the cinnamon-haired teen found nature's second bath 4. However, his sleeping form did not notice the ethereal wisps hovering above his head.

Jounouchi Katsuya was finally finished with his job and was ready to fall asleep in his bed. Dressed only in white cotton boxers and a blue t-shirt, Katsuya allowed sleep to claim him. He reflected on today's events: the coupling of Yuugi and Anzu, imoto-chan living with him, and seeing Kaiba in pain. As his snores reverberated throughout the apartment, no one noticed the ethereal wisps above him, hovering ominously.

Would asking for 7 reviews before I post the next chapter be asking to much?

1 a cookie to whomever gets this proverb first

2 Tokyo is six hours ahead of Cairo. Since the town of Domino is non-existent, I made it six hours ahead also. Plus thirty minutes had passed.

3 this one's a bit more difficult, however, if you are knowledgeable of Yuugioh, you'll get it.

4 this is a line in Macbeth referring to sleep. I like it that's why it's there.

Bonus there is a subtle hint to the Kaiba/Jou coupling in this. Can you find it?


	2. Sweet Dreams are Made of

Only in My Dreams  
Rating: M  
Parings: Kaiba Seto/Jounouchi Katsuya Kaiba Mokuba/Kawai Shizuka Motou Yuugi/Mazaki Anzu (The two other couples will factor into the formation of Kaiba and Jou)

Summary-After Battle City, life goes back to normal. Yuugi-tachi goes back to school, Seto and Jou continue to bicker, you know, normal. However, that all changes when Malik cast a spell on both Seto and Jou that forces them to dream about the other. As the dreams become more intimate, so do their feelings about one another. Will this be the catalyst that changes two great enemies into lovers?

Last chapter's answers

1 Idle hands are the devil's playthings

3 RE24 stands for Red Eyes and its attack of 2400

5 The hint at the pairing is the clothing. Look at the last few paragraphs of the first chapter.

Chapter 1 – Sweet Dreams Are Made of …

(In Seto's dream sequence, I will refer to the active participant as Seto and the passive viewer as Kaiba. Likewise, in Katsuya's dream sequence, I will refer to the active participant as Katsuya and the passive viewer as Jou or Jounouchi. After the dream sequence, all will return to normal. Finally, the dreams will be in the POV of the respective dreamer.)

* * *

Seto's Dream

I see myself in my office at KaibaCorp. I seem to be typing furiously. It looks to be a boring dream. Damn, even in my dreams I seem to be a boring guy! Nothing seems to be out of the ordinary. I examine the desk and see my computer typing something it won't allow me to see. Whatever, I thought. I view the rest of my desk. There are some assorted papers, office equipment, and three picture frames. I recognize one of the pictures as a photograph of Mokuba and I when we were in the orphanage. We were both smiling. Although we had nothing in the ways of possession, we had everything in each other. That was in the days before we heard of Kaiba Gozaburo. The next picture confused me. I had never seen the picture before. It was a picture of Mokuba and I, but in front of him was a strawberry-haired girl. She had brown, jovial eyes. Mokuba, in the picture, seems to be hugging the girl from behind possessively. They are both smiling. I do not remember who this girl is and why she is important to otouto-chan. The strangest part of the picture was the person in front of me. I was smiling in this one also. I had my hands of the shoulders of someone with a tuft of blonde hair. However, the face was obscured because whomever it was had been looking at me when the photograph was shot. This person was also, it looked, caressing my face. Who would have the gall to do something like that and, the more important question was why was I allowing it to happen? It was the third picture that floored me. It was that same blonde tufted person in the second picture, however HE was looking at me. The guy had brown puppy dog eyes, those messy golden tresses, and that stupid grin. He was posing for the camera and was flashing a victory sign and winking at it. "WHY THE HELL WOULD I HAVE A PICTURE OF THE MAKE INU?" I yell at this pathetic excuse for me. Unfortunately, 'Seto' continues typing as if he never heard me.

Static from the intercom interrupts my musings. "Excuse me, Kaiba-sama!" Seto looks annoyed as he presses the button to respond. "This had better be good or else…"

Now that's the me I know, taking nothing from no one. "He's here!" the person on the other side said. I see Seto's eyes soften and he fingers the picture of the make inu, tracing the lips of the pictures. The door to the office opened and the blonde in question crossed the threshold into the office. I, Kaiba, glared at the baka while Seto loosen the top buttons of his work shirt. The mutt was leaning very seductively over Seto's desk. Seto was smiling goofily at this blonde moron, looking at this third-rate duelist like a (shudder) lovesick puppy.

"I missed you, Seto-koi!" that make inu whisper so sensually into Seto's ear. I hear a moan escape as the idiot continues to breathe on his ear. The strangest thing that I noticed was Seto had not threw off the idiot. In fact, Seto pulled the make inu in the swivel chair and placed him on his lap. Seto caressed the blond moron's flank as said moron ran his hands lovingly through his cinnamon locks.

I was watching this until I heard a blaring alarm.

* * *

Katsuya's Dream

I see myself out in the park, painting every weekend so that my skills would not diminish with non-utilization. He is sitting on the end one of those long benches. I notice Katsuya is looking across the playground at the scene of children participating in schoolyard games. It is a sight that really warms the hearts. Katsuya splashes the canvas with brilliant shades of green for the scenery. Adding red and orange for a beautiful sunset scene was a nice choice. I never notice how good of an artist I am until I look at Katsuya drawing from afar. I noticed someone approaching Katsuya and I immediately recognized the guy. He was dressed in his gravity-defying white trench coat and was carrying a gunmetal briefcase.

Kaiba! I feel a growl in my throat release itself. Unfortunately, none of them heard me. Katsuya did not see him; he was so absorbed in the painting that he never felt him staring at him.

"So beautiful!" Kaiba says and Katsuya turns around. He sees that jerk and … is smiling? WHY THE HELL WOULD I SMILE FOR THAT JERK? "And the painting isn't half-bad either."

Katsuya begins to laugh. I don't understand. I hate the guy. Why am I having a dream where I am being friendly with the guy?

As if to answer my question, Kaiba saunters over to Katsuya and sits next to him. Why aren't they fighting? We always are fighting. It is some kind of constant. I believe that the day we stop fighting, hell would freeze over.

Kaiba really shocked me with his next move. He sat right next to Katsuya and places his head into his neck. Why are they acting the way we normally act in real life?

"Are you trying to seduce me, Mr. Kaiba?"1 Katsuya chuckles.

"I'm just very tired." Kaiba retorts, yawning very melodramatically.

Katsuya laughs quietly. "Let me help you then." I see Katsuya position Kaiba's head on his lap while his long legs are sprawled on the bench. Katsuya was stroking Kaiba's hair while Kaiba caressed his legs with his hands.

"Are you trying to create a pillow in my crotch, Seto-koi?" he asks, referring to the tenting that I see in his pants. I blush furiously at this blatant sexual innuendo. What would possess me to say that?

"Katsu-koi, you of all people should know that a nap isn't complete without a nice comfy pillow."

I can't stand to see this anymore. I start to walk away from this nightmarish scene when I heard a sound that is out of place. It sounds like someone knocking on a door.

(Now that the dreams are over, I will return you to your regularly scheduled fanfic.)

Seto woke from his dream with a jump. He observed his familiar surroundings. His room was splashed with all different kinds of blue. On one side of the room is an oak dresser and the other side are glass doors that contains a walk-in closet.

As he was orienting himself with his surroundings, the blue-eyed CEO realized that there was a lump in the middle of the bed. It took him a few minutes to realize that he was the cause of this lump, a raging hard-on protruded from the sheets. "Why the hell did that happened?" the cinnamon-haired teen growled. Kaiba Seto prided himself on subjugating his body to his command. This was the first time that he ever woke up with an erection. And to top it all off, it was a dream about the puppy. "I'm not attracted to the mutt. I hate him." Kaiba quarreled with himself. "There was no way in hell that would ever happen. He infuriates me to no end." /Why/ His inner voice asked him. /He never did anything to you except try to be your friend./

Seto was not going to have this conversation, or any other one, with himself. The blue-eyed CEO was of sound mind, thank you very much. Kaiba headed to his private bathroom and took a freezing shower to eliminate the ardor below his waist.

* * *

Katsuya awoke with a shout. Apparently, the banging that interrupted his nightmare was the sound of his little sister. It was then he realized that he was highly aroused. The amber-eyed teen panicked. He didn't want imoto-chan to witness him in this state. Katsuya's fears were so intense that the blood that went to his shaft immediately dispersed to be circulated throughout his body. The golden puppy inhaled and exhaled trying to calm himself.

He opened the door to his room and plastered on his trademark grin. His sister was staring at him crossly in her school uniform. "Mou, we are going to be late." She explained to him. "I want to give the teachers a good first impression."

"Gomen!" the blonde bishounen apologizes. "I just woke up from a horrible nightmare."

"What was the nightmare?" His sister asked, curious of what could have shaken the amber-eyed teen. "I hear it is good luck to talk about nightmares."

How was he going to explain that he had an erotic dream about a certain CEO that he hated? "Uh!" He stalled. "You know, I don't remember anymore!" He laughed nervously and scratched his head as he tried to make imoto-chan believe him. He was having a hard time believing it himself. How could he expect the strawberry-haired teen to accept it as true? Shizuka was not fooled for a second. The truth be told, she was slightly hurt that onii-chan would not trust her. "Fine!" she said, dismissing the subject. "Hurry up then!"

With a personal best of eight minutes and twelve seconds, Jounouchi was completely dressed for Wednesday's classes. He locked the door to his apartment and gave his little sister the spare key. He ran to his motorcycle and handed one of his helmets to Shizuka. After the two were ready, Jou took off, revving the bike repeatedly.

* * *

Kaiba was drinking his morning coffee while reading the stock market reports. It seems that his company was doing quite well in the American market. Not surprisingly, his stock went up 10.21 percent and was going for two hundred dollars American. While the teen was reading numbers that would be gibberish to anyone else, Mokuba walked to the counter where Seto was sitting and poured himself some cereal. It was Chocolate Frosted Donuts or something of the sort which would get the heart racing to dangerous levels and cause aneurisms in the weak of constitution. The brunette would only allow the ebony-haired imp to have a bowl a day or else the child would be bouncing off the walls.

"Are you prepared for school?" asked the teen. Otouto-chan shook his head in the affirmative, not really paying attention to his onii-sama. His thoughts were on the strawberry-haired girl. Her attractive form, her beautiful smile, her lovely voice, he mapped out how he was going to win her heart. As his mind recollected how lovely this creature that had to be of the heavens was, his school pants seemed to shrink and it frightened him. He never knew that girls would make him feel this way.

A clock beeped in the distance, signifying that it was time to head in the limo to go to school. The home intercom buzzed and Kaiba's personal chauffeur told him that he was ready to take them to school.

"Mokuba, it's time to go!" Kaiba announced and headed out the door. Mokuba strategically placed his book bag in front of his crotch area, hiding the evidence of his arousal. He started thinking about other things and immediately the tent in his pants disappeared. However, his face was bright red like the morning sun. His older brother noticed it and smirked. "Why is your face red?" he asked in a semi-serious tone.

"My face is not red." The lavender-eyed teen retorted a bit too quickly and very defensively.

"Look in the mirror then!" the CEO shot back and handed the kid a pocket mirror. Sure enough, there was a pinkish tinge to his face. The older teen laughed quietly as the realization reached Mokuba's face. "What were you thinking about?" Seto asked, curious of what would invoke such reactions in his little brother. "Just nervousness, I guess." He lied. Now was not the time to tell his older brother that he already fell in love with someone. And it wasn't even the first day of school.

Seto was not fooled for a moment. He knew that the redness was not caused by nervousness. Mokuba, as far as could remember, could take any difficult situation with a smile and confidence. It was a family trait that he inherited from their real parents, of which he had little remembrance of them.

The sapphire-eyed teen promised himself that he would investigate this at a later date. Right now, he had his own problems to deal with. Like why he had an erotic dream about the person he hated the most. It made no sense. Perhaps if he liked the pup in any way then it would make logical. However, no one, except for Kaiba Gozaburo, made the brunet so angry. Now that he thought about it, he had to admit to himself that Kaiba never hated the blond puppy. It was just very fun to irritate his puppy. He liked the reactions that he made. If there had to be a comparison, it was like playing with a new toy. Every response his puppy gave him was different than the last.

Kaiba shook his head. He didn't like where this train of thought was heading. The chauffeur announced via intercom that they have arrived at their destination. The Kaiba brothers exited the car. They separated company, promising to meet each other later after school was done.

It was 7:30 in the morning and the CEO spent his time in the library, running his company from afar. It was less stressful for the cinnamon-haired teen. No one would get on his nerves this early in the morning, no running around completing a job that anyone with half a brain could figure out, no simperingreceptionist staring straight at him instead of working. The receptionist in his last train of thought pissed him off. She was constantly drooling over whenever he entered the room and wearing skimpy clothing that made him disgusted at the way she was portraying her sex. Kaiba was waiting for her to mess up so he would have an excuse to fire her.

7:55 rolled around quicker than expected, so the CEO headed to his homeroom class which, unfortunately was with the mutt. The azure-eyed teenager used his long legs to quickly hurry to his next class. However for him, there was a long-legged blonde heading in the opposite direction running for his life. He could not get detention again, not when he was planning a welcoming party for his little sister.

(If you are smart, you can already see where this is heading.)

It was one of those moments where time slowed down. The two players on this giant chessboard positioned themselves towards the tiny door that can only fit one person. Both of the teens were not paying attention to their surroundings and were racing to their shared homeroom. Some perceptive people noticed the imminent collision. 3…2…1…

Just like slow motion, there was a lot of slurred swearing and loud bangs against the floor. Everyone in the hall gasped. These two were notorious for starting fights, both verbal and physical. They prepared for a skirmish.

Kaiba saw the person that dared to knock him down. Unfortunately, it was the blond moron, Jounouchi Katsuya, the puppy. He was rubbing his ass where the pain flared from. Jou saw who he ran into and blanched when he realized that it was Kaiba, of all people.

Normally, one of them would have thought of something that gets the other riled up. However, their respective dreams were fresh on their minds. Both of them sported a pink shade on their face as they picked themselves from off the floor.

"Sorry!" Jou mumbles, still keeping in his mind the dream about them in the park.

"Don't worry about it!" the sapphire-eyed teen responds, still reminded of his dream of Katsuya the seducer.

Kaiba allowed Jou go through the door first and followed after.

All of the people outside were dumbfounded. Where were the dog insults, the fists, the blood? This was highly unusual. Everyone felt as if some equilibrium was out of balance. This was the school's constant. A day without the two teens going at it felt empty and most of all apocalyptic. Some screamed in the hall shouting "The end is nigh!" while others resolved to fainting, leaving no room to walk around, save to step on someone.

In this class, Kaiba sat two seats behind Jounouchi. He spent his homeroom analyzing the boy. From afar, he was, what some would consider, attractive. That mop of untamed blonde hair, the happy-go-lucky grin forever plastered on his face, a kind heart, willing to go the extra mile for others,a muscled back that can be seen even though the uniform tried to hide it, a narrow waist, and long legs created the creature that was Jounouchi Katsuya. However, Kaiba reminded himself, he did not have a crush on the puppy.That just was impossible.

Jou was frightened out of his mind. He crashed into the cinnamon-haired CEO. But the strangest thing was that when he apologized, Kaiba accepted it without any comebacks. Coupled with the dream that he had last night, he had every reason to be afraid.

Yuugi, who was also in the same homeroom, observed his friend's behavior. Sitting straight across from Jou, he noticed that the amber-eyed teen seemed distant and spooked. He threw a crumbled note at Jou. Bull's-eye! It hit the boy in question square in the nose. Afterwards, the message dropped safely to the desk. Jou opened the note and read it.

"Are you all right?" the note read.

Jou turned to his spiky-haired friend and shook his head. If he were to tell the truth, he was thinking about his blue-eyed tormentor. Why would he dream about Kaiba of all people? He figured that he was straight. In fact, he knew he was straight. No question about it. Kaiba was attractive… from an artistic standpoint. Those long legs, his slim and narrow waist, his trim figure, and the most stunning feature of Kaiba, his gorgeous sapphire eyes. If he WERE gay, maybe he would be interested in him. But, he wasn't for two reasons: one, he wasn't gay and two, he hated Kaiba.

Katsuya remember that he could control the dreams. All right! Tonight, he was not going to dream about him.

Mokuba and Shizuka were before their shared homeroom. They were introducing themselves for their new classmates. However, while they were doing that, the two snuck appreciative glances at each other. Mokuba had thought of something that would win over Shizuka. He would act on it after school.

The lavender-eyed teen used his class time paying attention to the strawberry beauty in front of him. She looked like she was struggling with her work. To Mokuba, this was child's play. Gozaburo trained him almost as hard as Seto however he was trained at the college level. He had no need to copy notes.

The bell rang and Mokuba knew it was time to initiate phase one of his plan to win the strawberry beauty. He strode to Shizuka and tapped her shoulder lightly. The chocolate-eyed girl turned around smiling. She looked at him. If she was honest, Shizuka was falling in love with the ebony-haired bishounen. "I remember you!" she said smiling. "You were at the principal's office that day. I thought you already went to this school."

Mokuba smirked, not like his brother, but his smirkheld warmth. Shizuka allowed herself to fall in love with the smirk. "Oh, no! I transferred here yesterday. Today is my first day also." So far, so good. He is having conversation with the beauty and is not tripping up.

"Listen," the strawberry beauty asked "I am going to be having a house warming party today. I would like it if you could come." She was blushing a pretty pink and Mokuba couldn't help to think that he was the cause. Perhaps she has some feelings for him.

"Of course!" Mokuba agreed; he would have done anything this gorgeous creature asked. "Oh, by the way," he remember that he never properly introduced himself "the name is Kaiba Mokuba."

"Kawai Shizuka!" the strawberry beauty extended her hand and the ebony bishounen grasped it, reveling in its softness. Shizuka blushed. This cute guy was actually touching her hand.

The second bell rang, announcing that all students should be heading towards their next class. The two parted company, Mokuba having history and Shizuka having Environmental Science. Something in the invitation had promises of eternity.

The second class finished without incident and while Jou was heading to his third class, amber eyes met sapphire. He mentally groaned. Kaiba saw him and smirked. "Well, well, if it isn't the mutt." Kaiba began their time-tested struggle of who would end up on top. "Remember who your master is?" Ahh.. things are back to normal. Kaiba knew that he was notattracted to the mutt. He did not want to run his hands through his blonde tresses. He did not want to be loved by this beautiful boy. Seto growled mentally. He did not like where his thoughts were going.

"You're acting very calm for a guy with a stick up his ass." Jou retorted then blushed and turned away. He did not see the CEO blush. Both of the teens walked away from each other, both swearing not to dream about the other.

1 This line is from a famous movie. Can you guess it?

Don't worry! These two will come around. I promise! Perhaps another round of reviews will make me come around.


	3. Crossing That Gap

Only in My Dreams  
Rating: M  
Parings: Kaiba Seto/Jounouchi Katsuya Kaiba Mokuba/Kawai Shizuka Motou Yuugi/Mazaki Anzu (The two other couples will factor into the formation of Kaiba and Jou)

Summary-After Battle City, life goes back to normal. Yuugi-tachi goes back to school, Seto and Jou continue to bicker, you know, normal. However, that all changes when Malik cast a spell on both Seto and Jou that forces them to dream about the other. As the dreams become more intimate, so do their feelings about one another. Will this be the catalyst that changes two great enemies into lovers?

Notes: The characters Sakura Nicola and Tranae Brittinia belong to armageddonangel (he lives next door to me, never thought I'd meet another ff writer). I asked his permission and he said as long as I mention this at the beginning of each chapter that I use them in. If you like them, then read his Sailor Moon: the Harper Saga and leave him a review.

Last chapter's answer

1 The line was from the movie, The Graduate

Chapter 3 – Crossing That Gap

Jou was in his math class concentrating on the most difficult of problems. To perform this, he needed absolute silence. That was accomplished as the teacher rambled on about quadratics or something of that effect. He lifted his pencil as Yuugi and Honda looked on, silently cheering him on and mouthing out "Jou, Jou, Jou!" He places the pencil between his lips and his nose, holding it there. Yuugi and Honda laughed quietly as he imitated the man trying to educate them. The instructor turned around.

"Jounouchi-san, may I ask what are you doing?" he yelled.

"Gomen nasai, sensei." The blonde bishounen apologized as he removed the pencil. He tried to pay attention to the lesson but with all of the complex calculations just flying across the room, he became confused.

His mind unconsciously turned to a certain blue-eyed boy. Katsuya always wondered why Kaiba just hated him. The first time that he met the CEO, Kaiba just brushed off the other boy. There was no justifiable reason. He just did. In the back of his mind, Katsuya realized that the teen had enemies and friends could be used against him. He felt sorry for Kaiba. A child who was never allowed to grow up, Kaiba shielded himself from others to prevent his fragile heart from being broken. However, Katsuya figured, no one can protect themselves from being hurt.

Katsuya reconciled with himself that he never hated the blue-eyed teen. It was really the fact that he would always get on his nerves. In fact, he was the only one who crawled under his skin that way. Why was that, he wondered. The bell rang, signifying the beginning of lunch. Unfortunately for him, he couldn't watch over his sister and keep her safe from the drooling guys.

Jounouchi headed towards the cafeteria. He spied a strawberry tuft of hair as he was walking. Shizuka was talking to some girls. He placed a hand on her shoulder. She turned around.

"Katsu-chan!" she squealed, recognizing the boy with the amber eyes and the blond hair. She hugged him vehemently. "Are you having any problems, Shi-chan?" She shook her head. "I'm all right."

Jounouchi smiled wanly. She was growing up and that was bittersweet to him. Pretty soon, she'll be having a boyfriend and… for right now, he wanted to enjoy the remaining time that he had with her.

Mokuba was walking to lunch when he saw his goddess, Kawai Shizuka-san. She was talking to some of the other girls. He sighed softly. Lunch was the time when he would set the second phase of his plan into action. From the corner of his eye, the ebony-eyed teen saw a tuft of blonde hair approaching his strawberry-haired goddess. He placed a hand on her as if he was familiar with Kawai-san. He could almost feel his heart splitting in two when she returned his greeting with a hug of her own. Mokuba felt the tears welling in his eyes. Jounouchi, it seems, has already won over his goddess. "Life isn't fair." He sobbed mentally. "Why did I fool myself into believing that my goddess was not taken?" He slunk towards lunch, the rest of his day being shot to hell.

Seto spent lunch in the library, refusing to spend it with the brainless. The blue-eyed teen would rather be typing on his computer. He pulled out his cell phone and placed a call to his personal assistant, who doubled as his vice president. Of all of the people in his company, his personal assistant was someone that Kaiba gave his respect to. She never let him push her around and was not a simpering fool. She even openly defied him, as long as it was respectful and warranted, and although he will never admit it to her, he always liked that in the woman. In fact, if he was truly honest with himself, she would be the only woman that he could begin to like.

Seto went on one date and that was at the discretion of his brother. He said that the cinnamon-haired teen was working 'too damn hard' in Mokuba's own words. He commanded his onii-sama to go out with one of his female co-workers. Seto could not remember the name of the woman, too doting and not independent, relying on Kaiba to tell her to wipe her own ass. After that date, he realized that he was a homosexual or at least a woman hater. Not that he would admit this to anyone, including his little brother. If word did get out that he preferred men to women, who knows what would happen to his reputation and more importantly, his brother. The only other person who had any inkling to his orientation was his personal assistant, who knew enough to keep her mouth shut.

Someone on the other end of the line answered. "KaibaCorp! Kaiba Seto's office. He isn't in right now."

"Sakura, it is I." Kaiba gruffly responded. Sakura Nicola was a woman of the highest caliber. She was great in an office environment. "Ahh, Seto-kun, how are you?" she crooned, knowing that would get on his nerves. Kaiba growled at the endearment. He absolutely hated when she called him this. However, when he threatened to fire her because of it, she smiled at him and dared him to do it. Kaiba knew that she was the best with spearheading some of his more boring projects, bringing them before the important stockholders. She also stared down many powerful men with a smirk and turned them into obedient servants. He liked independent people, just like his puppy. Seto shook his head a bit violently. Where did that thought come from?

"Have you been watching Industrial Illusions lately?" he asked, getting a feeling that his archrival in business, Pegasus J. Crawford, was going to make a huge gamble.

"I have and you were right. They just came out with a set of new cards. Our analysts predict that they could stand to make five million yen by the end of the week."

"I thought as much. Anything else from Pegasus?"

"He has mass-produced new 'interactive Duel Monsters toys.' On voice command, they will perform a host of techniques. Pegasus is also trying to refine your lovely Duel Disc, making them lighter and the graphics sharper and who knows, they might come in designer colors which might match my outfits." She joked. Kaiba shook his head in amusement. That sound like something he would do. Not an original thought in his head.

"Keep an eye on him and text me with anything he does." The blue-eyed teen commanded.

"Aye, aye, Seto-kun." She agreed with a hint of mocking in her voice. "By the way, how is Mokuba-chan adjusting to high school?" Kaiba knew that Mokuba held a soft spot in Nicola's heart. She treated him as if he were her son. "I haven't seen him yet, but I'm sure he's doing fine."

"Well, I'm going to let you go now." The line clicked and went dead. The blue-eyed CEO closed his phone and returned to whatever CEOs type. His thoughts idly wandered to a certain blonde puppy. The dream about him yesterday really unnerved him. Of all the people to have an erotic dream about, why did it have to be him? Not that Jounouchi Katsuya wasn't easy on the eyes; on the contrary, he was very beautiful. There was no denying it. He did not hate the puppy. However, that is as far as Seto was willing to go. He did not love the puppy either. It was just that the blonde was so interesting. Everything that Seto said condescending towards him caused a burst of emotion from him. Seto realized that whenever he was pissed and was unable to release the anger, he teased the puppy. The blonde, in turn, would get angry for him and he would get to keep his composure. It's a win-win situation for everybody, … well, except for Jounouchi anyways. In short, the blonde was a conduit for Seto's anger and hatred.

But now, the dreams were insinuating that there could be a relationship with the blonde. Obviously, dreams are not based in reality because, even if the puppy was gay, Jounouchi hated him with a vengeance. Kaiba was a logical man and Jounouchi was a dreamer. The brunette was like ice but the blonde was like fire. The sapphire-eyed teen calculated every action that he made while the amber-eyed teen went in headfirst, damn the consequences. All of the experts say that in love, opposites attract. However, in Seto's mind, he and Jounouchi were too opposite and clashed against each other. There could never be a relationship with Jounouchi Katsuya.

Mokuba sat a lunch table in the cafeteria. It didn't matter where. He lost the will to care. His goddess loved someone else. It would never work out. As much as he loved Kawai Shizuka, Jounouchi was his friend and he would not encroach on someone else's territory. He was beyond that. However, the ebony-haired bishounen decided that it would be better for the two of them to be friends. That's at least what he told himself anyways.

So lost was he in his thoughts that he did not notice someone sitting across from him until she waved her hand in front of his face. Mokuba jolted from his inner thoughts and saw his goddess, Kawai Shizuka, smiling at him with a lunch tray in her hands. "Is this seat taken?" she asked with a smile. The ebony-haired imp shook his head and the strawberry-haired woman. Shizuka took the vacant seat adjacent from him. She noticed right away that something was off about him. He was not the same blushing boy from first period. Something happened from then to now that caused him to change and she was determined to find out what that was.

"Is there something wrong, Kaiba-san?" she asked tentatively. She hoped that she was wrong. The kid was cute and she wanted to be friends with him and perhaps become something more.

"I just got some bad news, Kawai-san." He sighed. It was the truth, or at least portions of it. Shizuka gave him a look of infinite compassion. "Do you want to talk about it?" she inquired, trying her damnedest not to interrogate him. Whether he wanted to share or not was his business. "It's a bit personal. But thanks anyway for your kindness."

She gave him a worried look. "I understand if you do not want to come to my housewarming party." Shizuka was on the verge of tears. It was tearing her apart. Mokuba noticed it and realized that he was making her cry. He placed a hesitant hand on her hand and to his surprise, she blushed. "I made a promise to you that I would go to your party and I'm not about to break it."

Seeing that the ebony bishounen had promised to attend her party lightened up her face. "Arigato!" she whispered.

Yuugi-tachi, during their lunch period, were sitting a table discussing the intricacies of Shizuka's housewarming party. "How about an ice cream cake?" Yuugi suggested within the arms of Anzu. After revealing his secret crush to her, they only became closer. He wanted to spend every waking moment with her and showed it by caressing her discreetly in public. He was more assertive in class and more relaxed. The spiky-haired bishounen had yet to kiss her, trying to save that moment for some place private. Right now he had an inconspicuous arm around his love's slim dancer waist.

"Sure!" Honda interjected. Shizuka was a sore subject with him. He liked her more than a friend should. However, the only things preventing him asking her was his best friend's reaction and Shizuka's response to his confession. He did not want to risk a friendship over his sister and so, Honda purposely avoided unaccompanied time with the strawberry-haired girl if he could help it. As the old saying goes, 'there are more fish in the sea.' "Only we are going to need two cakes because of the black hole here." The shark head pointed a thumb at his blonde buddy to accentuate his point. Jounouchi grinned in response. "I can't help it if I'm a growing boy."

As if it was an afterthought, Jounouchi spoke up. "Oh yeah! Do you guys mind if I invite my social worker? He is such a cool guy." The other three agreed and continued their plans.

At the Ministry of Social Services, a man with extremely long silver hair reaching his knees and tied in three braids was typing a report on his computer when the phone rang. His unusual red eyes spied the ringing instrument and he picked it up. "Moshi, moshi. This is Tranae Brittinia, social worker for the Ministry of Social Services. How may I help you?"

The person on the other line introduced himself. "Hey, Bri-kun, it's Jou!"

The silver-braided man smiled. Of all of the kids in his care, Katsuya-kun was his favorite. Not that he would admit it to his other cases though. He was such a happy kid. When the golden-haired boy's father died, Brittinia was put in charge of the kid's case. Katsuya did not seem particularly bummed out about it. When pressed about it, the silver-braided man learned of the father who would spend all of their disability money, which was obtained illegally, on alcohol and had the kid fend for himself. When said kid found a job, the elder Jounouchi, he learned, would bully his son into taking Katsuya-kun's well-earned money to support his drinking habits. After the death, Brittinia worked the system to get the amber-eyed boy into a posh apartment and have the Ministry pay for it, all done legally. The red-eyed man still checked up on him once a week as the Ministry mandated, but these were more pleasant visits, like those between friends.

"Ah, Katsuya-kun, how are you?" Brittinia responded. An exasperated sigh can be heard over the phone. "I will never get used to you calling me by my given name. Everybody just calls me Jounouchi, or Jou for short."

"Get over it." Brittinia laughs. The red-eyed man got serious. "Why did you call me Katsuya-kun? Is there something wrong?"

The blonde laughed over the phone. "No, it's nothing like that. I am just inviting you to a housewarming party for my sister Shizuka. She is moving in with me."

"Whew, you gave me a scare. I can't wait to meet this girl that you spent all of your time talking about. What time is the party?"

Jou rambled off the details and what he wanted his social worker to bring.

The last bell in the school rang, signifying the release of the school's hold on the children. Kaiba Seto was heading to his limousine, awaiting his ebony-haired brother, when the person in question came barreling towards the vehicle. "Onii-sama!" he yelled. "What is it, Mokuba?" the blue-eyed teen asked in a gruff, but non-confrontational voice.

"I made a friend who is having a housewarming party today. Would it be all right if I went?" He brought into being his most powerful puppy-dog eyes that would make his older brother capitulate to his request, no matter what in may be. Kaiba groaned internally. Whenever otouto-chan plays the puppy-dog eyes, his mental wall was destroyed. He would deny his brother nothing as long as he was safe. "As long as you call me after six."

Mokuba, although mindful of his brother's dislike of showing affection in public, hugged his brother's slim figure fervently. "Okay, see ya 'round." He yelled as he ran back into the school.

Jounouchi ran out of the school to head to his apartment. He had worked late last night and was trying to recapture some of his lost sleep. Lucky for him, on Thursday, he had seventh and eighth period study hall, which basically meant free time. The blonde explained to his sister that he was going to sleep for a while before the party and to head home by herself. He found that today, Kaiba was less antagonistic than usual. It was as if he was trying to avoid him for some reason. "Oh well," he thought to himself. "It's better that way."

He reached his apartment and his bed. His eyes drifted into sleep, unaware of the ethereal wisps hovering over him.

Kaiba entered the company that held his name, the one that he rebuilt with his own genius. Taking the elevator to the fiftieth floor where his office was, he was greeted by two sights, one welcomed and the other not. The welcomed sight was his personal assistant, Sakura Nicola, dressed in a simple black work dress and skirt. Her long, golden hair fell to her knees, almost taunting him. She smiled at him. The unwelcome sight was his receptionist, dressing in almost whorish garbs and flirting with him using her eyes.

His personal assistant spoke up. "You need a nap, Seto-kun. You look like shit." If it was anyone else, the blue-eyed CEO would have fired them on the spot. However, Sakura always told him the truth, even if Seto didn't want to hear it. That is why he respected her. Kaiba looked over his appearance in a mirror. She was right. His pristine hair was messy like he fell asleep in the car. His clothes were out of place. The receptionist shot Nicola a glare. _How dare she say his name with some familiarity with it_, she thought. The personal assistant stuck out her tongue at her.

Seto smirked at her. "Perhaps I do. I had a nightmare last night."

"Pegasus trying to take over your company?" she quipped. "Don't worry about it." He commanded a bit snappishly. There was an air of gravity over that statement, as if she better not push the subject. She smirked at him and took him by the shoulders. "Off to sleep, Seto-kun." Nicola dragged him into his office and made a turn to a hidden door behind a bookcase 1 and opened it, revealing a secret room with a shower, a bed and a fridge. Kaiba made no resistance to her compelling. It was his hideaway when he really needed to rest. Nicola tucked him in like a mother would and smiled at him.

"Never thought that I would be bedding the great Kaiba Seto" she laughed. Kaiba gave her a withering look. The long-haired personal assistant left the room, unaffected by the look and oblivious to the ethereal wisps above Seto.

Seto and Katsuya's dream+

The cherry blossom leaves were dropping from the trees, creating a very romantic scene. Seto and Katsuya seem to come from different directions. Both were unsure of themselves. Finally, the puppy and the dragon met.

"If this is a dream Seto, then I don't want to get up." Katsuya smiled at the blue-eyed teen. Seto smiled also, a smile from his heart. "Well, then let's make the most of this dream, Katsuya." The brunette grinned at his blonde bombshell. "Who knows when we might have another like it?" He continued as he stared into liquid amber.

Seto took Katsuya's chin ever so tenderly and melded their lips together. After some chaste kisses, the blue-eyed teen passed his tongue along the younger adolescent's bottom lip. The amber-eyed beauty sighed, giving an opening for Seto to delve his pink appendage in the other's mouth. Passing it along cervices, Seto found that its counterpart had tickled his tongue, eliciting moans from the both of them. Their bodies, complete with blazing erections, grinded against each other in a slow, passionate dance. Katsuya's hands found themselves on Seto's ass and he grasped them suddenly, causing his lover to whimper in pleasure. It also gave the puppy the chance to plunder the elder's mouth, not that Seto minded in this power shift. Their tongues waged an endless war against each other, not caring who won. The fire in their abdomens became stronger until they couldn't hold it any longer.

End Dream+

Katsuya woke up suddenly from the dream, finding that he was painfully erect. He looked in the clock. Shizuka would be getting out of school by now. It takes a half hour to get from the school here, so she shouldn't be here yet. He quickly got into the bathroom and undressed. The shower sprayed him with warm water. His erection was not going away, so he decided to make it go away. Soaping his hand, he grabbed his length and began to pump, trying to get himself off quickly. He remembered the dream vividly and he used it to increase his ardor. And then, his orgasm came in thick jets. He moaned quietly. Finally sated, his arousal deflated and left him alone. When the water removed all evidence of his ejaculation, he shut off the tap.

The dream, however, left Jou in a state of confusion. He swore that he would not dream about Kaiba in that way. Now the dreams intensified into heavy kissing. What did this mean? Was he gay?

"No," he shouted to himself. "I like girls. I like girls, not Kaiba." He felt nothing towards the stoic CEO, he told himself. Katsuya was going to prove it to himself. He wrapped a towel around his body and went into his room. Under his bed was an old girlie magazine. "This will be the proof." He said to himself.

Flipping through the pages, Jounouchi pumped himself as he imagined himself next to the woman. He imagined his organ being caressed by the woman. But try as he might, his length remained flaccid. Being the stubborn teen that he was, he flipped through the pages to a depiction of a sexual act. Instead of looking at the woman as she was impaled by the man, he was looking at the male. His mind was superimposing the man's face with Kaiba's. His organ jumped to life at the image of the cinnamon-haired teen. He shut the magazine in horror. "No, no, this isn't happening." He told himself. "I hate Kaiba." However, the physical evidence was damning.

Jou paced around the room, trying to logically solve this dilemma. However, logic was not his strong suit. His heart was though and it was telling him that he felt something more than the bounds of friendship with the blue-eyed teen. His heart had to be wrong this time, right?

"Perhaps," Katsuya reasoned to himself "the problem is that I need to be around a living girl for me to be aroused." He quickly got dressed and dumped the magazine in the bottom of the garbage. He didn't want to expose his little sister to those horrendous images.

He got his clothes on quickly and prepared the house in order. Forcing all thoughts of Kaiba out of his mind, he concentrated on his coming guests. Shizuka-chan said that she was bringing a friend from school. The amber-eyed teen wondered what kind of girl imoto-chan's friend was like.

There was a knock on his door. He went to open the door and he found Yuugi-tachi standing in front of his door. Yuugi had changed into his black sleeveless shirt with his leather pants. Anzu had on a green turtleneck with some short khaki pants. Honda had his leather biker jacket over a white shirt and denim jeans. They said their greetings and began to set up for the guest of honor, who should be coming home in a few minutes.

Kaiba woke up with a jump and found that his groin was flaring at him again. "Why is it happening again?" This wasn't happening. Kaiba prided himself on being in control. Why is it that he is losing it? Seto didn't know, but he was going to find out. But first things first! He had to make himself look presentable. He went into the shower. Stripping until he was nude, Seto stepped into the shower and turned the spray on. His erection wasn't going away anytime soon so he grabbed hold of it and stroked. He imagined that his hand was Jou and he was pumping him. For some reason, that made him harder. Finally, he came. It was such a sweet release, better than all of the times he did it before. What did this mean?

Drying himself clean, he put on new clothes and exited his secret room. Standing before him was his personal assistant, smirking at him. "Did you have a nice dream, Seto-kun?" Sakura crooned as if she had something over Kaiba. "I don't know what you're talking about." He said impassively. Inwardly, he was concerned about what he could have said in his sleep that she could have overheard.

Sakura Nicola shrugged her shoulders. "Whatever you say, Seto-kun!" she sighed. "By the way, who is Katsuya?" At the mention of Jou's given name, Kaiba uncharacteristically blushed and she caught. "Aha! You love this Katsuya person, don't you?" The blue-eyed CEO walked stiffly to his desk and gave her the patented Kaiba Stare-down. Unfortunately for him, Sakura was not affected by it. "If you say a word about this to anyone, I will fire you on the spot."

The long-haired woman walked to his desk and slammed her hands on it loudly. "Listen, Kaiba," she shouted in a voice that demanded attention. "What you do beyond this job is your own business and none of mine. Also, when have I given you any reason that I might betray your secrets? I have worked for you since you took control of this company. I have stood by you when the Big 5 sold you out to Pegasus. I have been faithful in my job. I am happy that you finally admitted that you love someone other than your brother. I wish only happiness for you and this Katsuya person." At the end of her tirade, Kaiba's eyes softened. She was right. Sakura has always stood by him. That is why he respected her. "Let's get to work!" Kaiba commanded. He wouldn't even begin to tell her that the puppy hated his guts.

"Oh, by the way, Seto-kun," Sakura spoke. "I shall assume that Katsuya is a guy, correct." "Have you been spying on me?" he snarled. She smiled at him. "Nope, but I have other ways of knowing. Oh, and just so you know I am going to be leaving early today. Someone is going to pick me up." Kaiba nodded curtly and the two went back to work, doing whatever it is Fortune 500 companies do.

Shizuka and Mokuba were walking towards hers and her brother's apartment. The journey was a silent one; however, it was for different reasons. Shizuka was unable to talk to Mokuba because of nervousness and Mokuba did not want to indulge in the fantasy of his goddess because Shizuka belonged to Jounouchi. It hurt his heart badly, but the ebony bishounen would not dwell on this for long. He will school his face so that it would not betray his emotions. He learned from onii-sama to do just that. Now, the grey-eyed teen will put it into practice.

Finally, they made it to Shizuka's apartment. The strawberry-haired goddess turned towards the cute teen and smiled. "I want you to meet my older brother." She said to him. "He goes to our school."

Kawai-san had an older brother? Mokuba went through the rolodex of his mind, trying to remember if he knew another Kawai-san in Domino High. However, he came up with nothing. Without warning, the apartment door opened and in front of them was a boy with blonde hair materialized, holding a garbage bag in his hand. The strawberry girl squealed in delight. "Katsu-chan!" she greeted her older brother. Said blonde smiled and kissed his sister on her forehead. "Shi-chan! Welcome home!" Mokuba eyes darkened at the display of love.

Jou turned his attention to the ebony-haired teen and his eyes questioned said teen's presence. "What is Mokuba-kun doing here?" the amber-eyed teen asked. Shizuka smiled. Since he was already familiar with her friend, there was no need for introductions. "Katsu-chan, this is the friend I am bringing over." She turned to Mokuba, oblivious to the mental daggers he seemed to be throwing at Jounouchi. "Mokuba-kun, this is my brother, Jounouchi Katsuya, or onii-chan to me."

At the words of 'my brother,' the pieces of the puzzle started to come together. Perhaps he stood a chance after all. His inward smile translated into his outward smile. "Jounouchi-kun, you didn't say that you had a sister." He grinned. "Really, I thought I mentioned to you, but I guess I didn't." Jou turned to his sister. "Imoto-chan, you can head inside, the party is starting. I'm gonna just throw out the garbage."

Leading the two inside, Mokuba noticed the welcoming mat and he glowered a bit. It was an unflattering sight to see your older brother at a place to wipe your feet. Jou noticed and smiled embarrassingly. "Sorry, Mokuba-kun! It's just that your brother gets under my skin so bad that I have to take out my frustrations on something. I'll remove it if you want." Mokuba just nodded and the blonde put the welcome mat in the closet. "Are there any other caricatures that I should be aware of?" the grey-eyed teen asked, miffed that Jou would do something like that, although as far as he knew, they were not on friendly terms with each other. "Just a painting. Would you like to see it?" Mokuba nodded slowly, wondering what kind of insult he created.

Shizuka was oblivious to the contention of the ebony-teen. Jou went to fetch the painting. Mokuba and Shizuka escorted themselves to the living room. Inside the room were Yuugi and Anzu sharing a seat, Honda sprawled across the couch, Ryou Bakura sitting on a dining room chair, Otogi Ryuuji leaning against the couch and twirling his jet black hair and Kujaku Mai standing. The teens engaged in friendly conversation until Jou came back with multiple canvases.

There were ten all together. Jou smiled at the group. "All right, guys! Tell me what you think of them."

The first one was a portrait of Kaiba Seto. He was dressed it his customary white, gravity-defying trench coat and a gunmetal briefcase. He was standing straight, foreboding and menacing, as the entire background was in chaos, a tower of immobility. Above him, there was a rendering of the Blue Eyes, White Dragon, racing as if it could come out of the painting. 2

The second one was of Yuugi. He was pictured in two ways. The first was of his normal form, with innocent eyes and the second form was the person that he became when the Millennium Puzzle was activated. His eyes were painted a bit sterner and there was a confident smirk on his face. The background was a slew of multiple shadow creatures that he remembered in the shadow realm, but they seem under subject to the creature above them, the Dark Magician.

The third was of Honda. He was on his motorcycle and his jacket was fluttering, indicating movement. Pursuing him was Super-Robo and the Cyber Soldier. The fourth was of Anzu, dressed in a dancer's ensemble. Around her were strobe lights and she was on a dance floor. Her legs were moving to the beat of an unknown rhythm. Observing her was the Magician of Faith and the Dark Magician Girl. The fifth one was of Mai. She was soaring on the clouds and flying with her were the Harpy Lady Sisters. The sixth one was of Otogi who was dressed in a dog's costume with Orgoth the Relentless behind him, brandishing his broadsword behind him. 3 The seventh one was of Ryou Bakura. The boy was half covered in light and had an angel wing, showing the innocence of the Brit, and the other half was in shadows and had a devil wing, a cunning eye that glinted of madness. 4

The eight one was of Shizuka with bandages in her hands. She was smiling as St. Joan was watching over her. In the background was a serene beach where two kids, one redhead and the other blonde were making sand castles. There was another scene were a young boy was holding a baby in his hands like a precious gift. The wind caressed her hair.

The ninth one was of a man with immaculate white wings and long, silver hair and red eyes. He was holding a glittering, silver scythe. He was fighting a demon with pale-blond hair. The demon was distorted and was larger than the angel. However, there were no scars on the angel while the demon was red with blood. In between them, there was a blonde child, cowering from this epic battle, his eyes and cheeks stained with tears. 5

The final one was blank, waiting to be drawn upon. It wished to be manipulated into whatever the artist wanted. As the guests were admiring (and in Otogi's case, disapproving) the paintings, the doorbell rang. Jou went to get the door. At the threshold stand a man with long silver hair and red eyes. "Hey Bri-kun! You're just in time. Just come on in!" The blonde leads the silver-haired man in to the living room.

"Guys," Jou announces in a clear voice. "This is my social worker, Tranae Brittinia." The long-haired shakes the hand of Shizuka. "You must be Katsuya-kun's sister, Kawai Shizuka." Said little sister nods. "Yep, that's right!" He turns to Yuugi. "From the spiky head of hair, you must be the King of Games, Motou Yuugi-san. My own daughters say that you are invincible. Perhaps, I should challenge you in a match to see if you are as good as they say." Yuugi blushed as the silver haired social worker moved towards Anzu. "I shall assume that you are Mazaki Anzu-san, the dancer. Do you play Dance Dance Revolution? Because I will totally school you in that game" The azure-eyed dancer slanted her eyes. "You're on!" she accepted. The next person on his list was a shard-head teen. "You are Honda Hirito-san, correct? Thanks for being a good friend to him."

Jou introduces the rest of the guests to his social worker, ending with Mokuba. Brittinia cocks his head. "Are you Kaiba Mokuba, brother of Kaiba Seto, president of KaibaCorp?" "Yep! Are you surprised?

"I know someone who works for your brother." Brittinia takes a seat on the floor, smoothing out his hair so that he is not sitting on it. "Really?" Mokuba asked. "Her name is Sakura Nicola, Vice President and personal assistant to Kaiba, or as she likes to tease, Seto-kun."

Only onii-sama, Sakura-san, and himself knew about Sakura-san's nickname for his brother. That the social worker knew that intimate detail proved that he knew her. Brittinia's eye went to the canvases and the images portrayed on it. When he looked at the angel fighting the demon, his heart was touched.

The party continued as they played some board games and charades. Yuugi and Anzu always paired with each other and so did Mokuba and Shizuka. As the hours passed by, Anzu looked at the time and said that she had to go. Yuugi, being the perfect gentleman, left to escort her home. The two found their way out. Jou noticed that Anzu left her purse and he ran after them to return it.

Outside Jounouchi's apartment, Yuugi and Anzu were walking hand-in-hand, unaware that someone left something behind. "Hey, Anzu" the spiky-haired bishounen asked. "Would you like to go to the movies tomorrow?" "Sure, Yuugi!" Anzu responded. "I would love to." Anzu leaned into Yuugi and bestowed upon his lips a gentle kiss.

As Jou was about call out to them while he was out of the door, he saw the two kissing. He quickly placed the purse on the floor and went back inside. He slumped to his knees at the beautiful scene. "No" he told himself. He was not going to cry.

The blonde teen walked pace towards his room, bypassing the other guests as he went by. Only Brittinia noticed the increased pace and decided to get up. He followed the amber-eyed teen towards his bedroom.

Jounouchi was staring into space when he felt a strong hand on his shoulder. He turned around and saw his silver-haired savior. He hugged him as if he was some sort of anchor, tears staining the clothes of the red-eyed man. Brittinia rubbed his back until the sniffles ceased. "I just saw my friends kissing." Jou began. Brittinia held his peace, allowing the blonde to speak without interruption. "It's not that I wanted either of them in an intimate manner. It's just, I want what they have, a relationship with the person you love the most."

"But that's not the only thing bothering you, is it?" the social worker asked. Jou shook his head. "I just had a disturbing dream. It was a dream about the person I hate the most in a very intimate manner."

"Perhaps you don't hate that person?" Brittinia offered. Jou's face contorted in surprise and flushed red. "No," he nearly shrieked. "I hate…" He was about to say Kaiba, but the blonde held his tongue in check. "I hate that person."

The silver-haired social worker shrugged his shoulders and looked at his watch. It told him that the time was ten to six. "Listen Katsuya-kun, I've got to go home. Are you going to be all right?" The amber-eyed high-school student nodded and said goodbye to him.

Meanwhile, Mokuba and Shizuka were having a great time when, out of the blue, Shizuka pulled him aside, away from the party. The grey-eyed teen looked at her with questioning eyes while internally, his heart was pounding.

"I just want to be away from the noise." Shizuka said. It was a bold move on her part, but if he wasn't going to make the first move, she would. Mokuba observed the party. It didn't seem like it was particularly noisy. "Would you like to join me in my room?" the goddess asked and Mokuba could not refuse her. Following her into a room colored with white and pink, Mokuba could not help but be in awe of the inner sanctuary of his goddess, Kawai Shizuka.

As Mokuba looked over the room, he noticed that Shizuka averted his eyes to the floor. He walked to the strawberry teen and placed a platonic hand on her shoulder. "Are you all right?" he asked. She nodded but continued to keep her head down.

Mokuba made a bold move. Facing the strawberry-haired lass, using his hand, he tilted her chin upwards. He could see her cheek were pink. It was now or never. Mokuba took a big breath. "I…I…I…"

Shizuka was looking at him stumbling over his words and staring into his grey eyes. Mokuba has such beautiful eyes. The ebony-haired bishounen took another deep breath. "I… really… like… you, Kawai-san." There, he said it. Before he realized it, he found himself being hugged by the person that he wanted as soon as he laid eyes on. In return, he wrapped his arms around her lithe frame. The two embraced for what seemed like an eternity and let go. What was needed was already said.

"Can I see you sometime after school?" Mokuba asked tentatively. Shizuka smiled her brightest smile and kissed him on the nose. "Of course." She giggled. Mokuba now had a permanent blush on his cheeks as well as a bit of red on his nose. His heart, his conscience and his hormones were doing a happy dance and chanting "Go, Mokuba! Go, Mokuba! It's your birthday! It's your birthday!"

"Maybe we should head back to the party?" Shizuka offered. Mokuba dumbly nodded, remembering how soft her lips were against his skin. He was on cloud nine and nothing else mattered. Returning back to the party, it seemed as if no one knew that the guest of honor had left for a moment.

Brittinia also came back and noticed a blush on Mokuba's face. He also observed that the teen was holding on to Shizuka-chan's hand. "Well, guys" the silver-haired man announces in a loud voice. "It was nice to meet all of you but now, I have my own children to attend to. So I shall see you around." He bows low and turns to Mokuba. "Mokuba-san, do you need a ride back to KaibaCorp? I am going there anyways."

The ebony-haired bishounen looked at the time. Yikes! It was five to six and he had yet to call Seto. He took out his cell phone and dialed memory 1. A calm voice answered him. "Kaiba!" the voice answered. "Seto, it's me. A friend of Sakura-san is offering me a ride to the office. Do you mind?" There was a slight pause and his cinnamon-haired brother acquiesced to his request. He closed the phone and turned to the social worker. "He said that it is all right." Mokuba told him.

"Well then, let's go." Mokuba said his goodbyes and Shizuka walked him to the door. Brittinia walked out the door, leaving the two teenagers alone. "See you in school tomorrow, Shizuka-chan!" Mokuba held her hand and rubbed it tenderly. Shizuka responded with a kiss on his soft cheek. The both of them blush. "See you tomorrow, then, Mokuba-kun." Mokuba walks out the door.

Brittinia is waiting for him, leaning against the wall. "Are you ready to go, Mokuba-san?" he asked and Mokuba nodded, the powers of speech haven't returned to him yet. "Katsuya-kun's sister is cute, isn't she?" Mokuba nodded again, not really paying attention to him. Brittinia hands the ebony-haired youth a helmet. "Put this on!" he tells him and leads him to a beautiful, black motorcycle. It has a decal of a lion with wings on the right side and an Egyptian Sphinx with wings on the left side. He attaches his helmet to his head and tells Mokuba to hold on. They ride off towards the skyscraper known as Kaiba

It was six-thirty when the receptionist buzzed Kaiba Seto. "Kaiba-sama, your brother is downstairs and he is coming upstairs." Kaiba looks up from his work and hits a red button. "All right" he said to the intercom and let go of the button.

Two minutes passed and Mokuba came upstairs, running towards his brother's office, still having a blush on his face. He saw two people in his office.

"Onii-sama, Sakura-san, I'm here." He gave a hug to his brother and Sakura-san, whom he treated like a mother. "So I gathered, Mokuba-kun." She gave him a funny look. "Why is there red on your nose?" Mokuba blushed, remembering exactly why it was there.

Nicola was not dumb. She had an idea why he was blushing like that. Mokuba's eyes lightened in realization. "Oh, by the way, some guy named Brittinia is waiting for you." At the mention of Brittinia, Nicola perked up. "He's downstairs?" she asked. "Yeah, I didn't know you had a boyfriend Sakura-san."

"Me either, Mokuba-kun! Well Seto-kun and Mokuba-kun, I will take my leave of you. Oh, and congratulations Mokuba!" she ended cryptically as she ran out of the office. Mokuba blushed and Seto picked up on it.

"All right, Mokie, spill. Why are you blushing?" He inquired with a voice telling Mokuba that he was not going to be denied. "Well Seto…" Mokuba was a bit hesitant on broaching this subject wit his older brother, yet, he had every right to know. "I …" Seto noted the hesitancy in his brother's voice and decided to let him have all the time in the world. "I … think … that I have a girlfriend." With that, Mokuba's eyes averted to the floor. To say that Seto was shocked would be the understatement of the year. Although his facial expression was neutral, inwardly he was floored with the statement. "I am happy for you, Mokie." Seto told him. "Just be careful. There are some women in this world that would want us for our money." Mokuba was indignant with that response. "Shizuka-chan isn't like that, onii-sama."

Seto looked at his little brother. He was upset. So he walked up to him and gave him a hug. "I'm sure that she isn't. But I have to protect you, otouto-chan." Mokuba returned the hug. "Would you mind if I took her to dinner tomorrow night?"

"Of course not. Just tell me the name of the restaurant that you want and I'll reserve it for you."

Kaiba, of course, had his own problem. Now that he admitted to himself that he liked Jounouchi, the real challenge would be to confess without getting his heart trampled on.

Nicola was walking past the lobby when she saw a man with long, silver hair that was tied with three braids. She kissed him on the cheek. "I didn't know that you were my boyfriend, Leon-kun." Nicola told him, using her pet-name for him. Brittinia looked at her with surprise. "I didn't know either, Rayne-sama." He responded. He handed her a helmet and the two rode home on his motorcycle.

Jou, Shizuka and Mai were cleaning up the remnant of the party. Each was in their own thoughts. Shizuka was happy that she had confessed her crush to Mokuba and was ready to see what will become of this relationship. Jou was a bit unnerved about the dream and what his social worker said about the dream. And Mai was wondering how the hell she got on cleaning duty when she just heard about the party today.

Finally, all of the mess was cleaned up. Shizuka headed to her room. "Onii-chan, I'm going to bed. Good night." She kissed her brother on the forehead and went to her room to sleep, leaving Mai and Jou alone.

Jou was going to prove to himself that he was not in love with Kaiba. The blonde turned to Mai and smiled. "Hey Mai, what are you doing tomorrow?" "Nothing really." She responded. If the truth be told, Mai had a small crush on the amber-eyed teen. She wondered what he was going to ask her. "How about you and me go out to dinner tomorrow at the Golden Palace?" Jou was chanting in his head, "Please say yes, Please say yes…."

"All right, but you better be there, Jou-kun." And with that, the Amazon left his apartment. Jou's plan of proving his heterosexuality was going according to plan. He went to him room and fell asleep with a contented smile, oblivious to the ethereal wisps above his head.

Seto and Mokuba went home after a hard day's work at the office. They were so tired that they barely made it to their respective beds. Mokuba was so happy and exhausted that he fell asleep immediately, dreaming of a goddess that was finally his. Seto watched his brother fall asleep with a serene smile on his face, devoid of malice or arrogance.

He made to his own room and made himself comfortable on his bed. He wished that Jou was in his bed also. Being the logical person that he is, Seto figured out that, if he was dreaming about Jou, then he must be in love with him. The blue-eyed teen had never had these feelings for another person before. Sure, he loved Mokuba, but not in the way that he loved his puppy. With a worried frown on his head, Kaiba fell asleep, unaware of the ethereal wisps above his head.

A/N I am looking for a Beta reader. If you want the job, then email me. To get it, you have to think like me and have the same mentality as me. Answer questions 2, 3, 4, and 5 correctly and I'll consider you.

1 Very cliché, right?

2, 3, 4, 5 There is a secret meaning behind these paintings. Looking at them will give you insight into Jou's mind. Tell me what the paintings represent and you can be my beta.


	4. Truth with a Side Order of Salad

Only in My Dreams   
Rating: NC-17  
Parings: Kaiba Seto/Jounouchi Katsuya Kaiba Mokuba/Kawai Shizuka Motou Yuugi/Mazaki Anzu (The two other couples will factor into the formation of Kaiba and Jou)

Summary-After Battle City, life goes back to normal. Yuugi-tachi goes back to school, Seto and Jou continue to bicker, you know, normal. However, that all changes when Malik cast a spell on both Seto and Jou that forces them to dream about the other. As the dreams become more intimate, so do their feelings about one another. Will this be the catalyst that changes two great enemies into lovers?

* * *

Notes: The character Tranae Brittinia belongs to Armageddon Angel. I asked his permission and he said as long as I mention this at the beginning of each chapter that I use them in. If you like him, then read his Sailor Moon: the Harper Saga and leave him a review.

Last Chapter's answers: For a copy of what I was looking for, send me an email and I will get back to you.

Chapter 4 – The Truth with a Side Order of Salad

* * *

Katsuya broke away from the kiss with his eyelids fluttering. He looked at the person who was the recipient of that kiss. Seto looked flushed too. He smiled. "It seems that you like my kisses, my lovely Dragon."

Seto returned the smile with a small one of his own. "Well, you make them irresistible. I am addicted to them."

"Hmm, then allow me to do something that will be even more irresistible." The amber-eyed teen winked at him and kissed the dragon's chin, moving his way down the column of olive skin. Seto growled his pleasure. Nobody could stoke his fire like his puppy. While concentrating on the gratification he was receiving from his beloved, in the back of his mind, the blue-eyed teen realized that his t-shirt was being taken off. His Puppy was good at multitasking.

There came a point where the connection with the mouths was broken, but only to remove the t-shirt Seto wore. It was forgotten as soon as the blond teen threw it.

Katsuya pushed Seto gently to the ground. It was almost surreal, to have this beauty, to whom control was necessary, under him relinquishing that very control. He kissed the Dragon's chest, stopping to suck on a hardened bud while beginning a ministration on the other. Seto cried in ecstasy. Ever since that day, he had always wanted this and now, he was on the receiving end of this pleasure.

Katsuya switched his attention to the other nipple as his Dragon writhed in pleasurable agony. He was so hard, but his Puppy did nothing to relieve his ache, only made it more pronounced.

The blond teen's hand finally made their way to the CEO's jeans and slid them off. Springing to life was Seto's manhood. If Katsuya paid close attention, he could see it pulsating with blood as it hardened itself even more. He grinned.

"Please" the blue-eyed teen moaned. Although there was some relief when the jeans were removed, he still ached. Out of clouded sapphire, he saw his Puppy hovering over his erection. In one swift motion, all of Seto's length was surrounded in warm, wet heat. Seto moaned out loud, uncharacteristic for the quiet teen.

In a rhythmic fashion, the blond continued pleasuring his lover. It was only a matter of time until Seto gave Katsuya what he wanted. And, oh boy, did he ever. In waves of warm cream, did Seto manifest his passion for the blond. He moaned aloud as he was drained of his seed by his lover. When, at last, he was done, Jounouchi pulled Kaiba for a kiss, making sure to spread the brunet's passion along his tongue.

Seto, when it came to Katsuya, always needed to do one better, as the blond was kissing him, was unbuttoning his Puppy's jeans. Sliding them down his ivory legs, the Dragon's target was identified. With a wicked smirk, he pinned Katsuya to the floor and attacked his arousal.

Hot and moist was the center of his world. He growled low as the brunet took him in his mouth. It was amazing. Why was it that he had any reservations, he thought as his lover continued to blow his mind, among other things, away. But he had a feeling in the pit of his stomach and that took precedence over anything. He couldn't, nor wanted to, hold on any longer. So he came, long and hard.

Seto cleaned up his lover's essence and kiss the Puppy, sliding his tongue into the shorter man. The two continued to kiss each other.

* * *

Kaiba woke up as his mental clock told him that it was 5:00. He looked at his sheets. It was wet and sticky. At once, the blue-eyed CEO knew the reason. Kaiba frowned at the mess. He had come to terms with his growing affection for a certain blond. It wasn't fair, he thought to himself. Why did it have to be Jounouchi? They shared nothing in common. Yet, it seems that his heart, never mind his hormones, wanted the amber-eyed teen. Why him of all people?

Since mentally assessing things was not going get anything done, Kaiba got up. He blushed faintly as he disposed of the soiled sheets in a nearby fireplace. The last thing that he wanted was someone scrounging around his garbage and finding out that the big, bad CEO was having wet dreams. Oh, the field day the tabloids would have.

After taking a shower, getting dressed and making himself some coffee, Kaiba prepared himself to get some work in before classes began.

Uncharacteristically, Mokuba can into the kitchenette and made a bowl of muslin, a whimsical smile on his face. Seto looked at him with detachment. Never on schooldays would he be up. Maybe, he snorted mentally, this 'girlfriend' would be good for him, at least he gets up without being forced awake.

"Mokie, what are you doing up?" Seto asked. "Well, I… was…" the grey-eyed teen blushed profusely and he laughed nervously. "Well, ha ha ha ha!" He started babbling.

"Well, spit it out." His older brother urged him. How was Mokuba going to tell his brother that he had an erotic dream and was unable to go back to sleep for fear of ruining another good pairs of sheets. "I couldn't go back to sleep after that weird dream." The ebony-haired bishounen hoped that it would be enough for his onii-sama and, to his surprise, it was.

Seto, looking at his otouto-kun's face, knew that he did something that he was embarrassed about and didn't want to continue. He must have had a nocturnal emission. He snorted quietly.

"Listen," the blue-eyed teen told his brother. "I'm going to work for an hour. Can I trust you to get to school on your own?"

"Psssh" was the dismissive reply. "Of course I can."

Seto ruffled his brother's hair and walked out of the mansion, then taking on the persona of Kaiba. His face was stonewalled and his eyes emotionless. He got into his car and drove off.

* * *

Inside KaibaCorp, his personal assistant, Sakura Nicola, greeted him. "Well, well, Seto-kun, having insomnia?" She quipped. "Get to work, Sakura." He gritted through his teeth.

She reeled back dramatically. "What's with the pissy attitude? If I remember my psychology classes, you are suffering from sexual deprivation."

Kaiba looked at her wide-eyed. _How the hell was she able to hit the nail on the head?_ "Wow, I was just joking. You really need to get laid." Her demeanor became serious. "There's something on your mind, isn't there?" The long-haired woman placed a comforting hand on the CEO's shoulder. "Would you like to talk about it?"

What did Kaiba have to lose? She wouldn't let any words of this conversation leave this room. She was professional in that respect.

"If you tell anyone of this conversation, I will personally erase you." Kaiba warned in a low voice.

"I will never betray your confidence, Kaiba Seto-kun." Nicola told her boss.

"I had a disturbing dream concerning a kid in my class. It was supposing that I could have a serious relationship with this kid."

Nicola would have said something funny to this but it wasn't the time or the place. "By serious, you mean a sexual or a deeper relationship?" Seto nodded his head. "And you are confused because you don't think that you like this person in that way?"

"No, I know I must have some feelings for this person. I've been having repeated dreams and this person was in all of them."

"Let me ask you a question. Why are you ashamed to say that it is Katsuya you have some sort of affection for?" Seto's eyes widened. "How the hell did you know that his name was Katsuya? Have you been spying on me?"

"Yesterday, you moaned his name in pleasure while you were sleeping. Plus in the shower, it sounded as if you were masturbating, trying to get yourself off quickly."

"Was it that loud?" Seto was embarrassed that his personal secretary heard him getting himself off. But one look in her eyes told him that she caught him in a verbal trap. "You didn't know that, did you?"

She smiled and nodded. "Unless you are intently trying to listen to that sound, then you would be able to hear it. So, in answer to your question, yeah, I didn't know that."

Seto scoffed. He finally was against that logic. Sakura Nicola was a master of verbal traps. She could trap people in their own words, making them recant what they had said. "No wonder I hired you." He sighed softly. In some matters, Nicola was his confidante and this was one of those matters.

"I guess I have some sort of affection for him. But this is a person that I made sure that hated me. That is why it's difficult for me to accept the person that I teased. Perhaps this is a bit of irony."

"I think so too. This is what I would do. Stop teasing him and start building a bridge of friendship towards him. Maybe an apology would be in order also." She paused for a smirk. "But knowing you, you won't do anything like that."

Kaiba, not wanting to think of the blond anymore, grabbed some random papers and cleared his throat. "We need to get some work done before I have to go to school."

Sakura Nicola shrugged her shoulders. Whether Kaiba followed her advice or not was really none of her business. But for his sake, she hoped he did.

* * *

Katsuya got up at seven. Disturbed again with his dream and the mess that he made in his sheets, the blond disposed of the sheets in the laundry basket. "Why Kaiba?" he mused. He would have no problem with being a homosexual if it wasn't Kaiba his dreams was insinuating that he be with. But, since it was Kaiba, he would fight it. Besides, he would prove to his damn subconscious that he was not lusting after Kaiba. Tonight, he was going on a date with Mai.

He put on a cheery smile and got dressed. He prepared himself for the day. The amber-eyed teen went to get his sister up when he realized that she was moaning in her sleep. He furrowed his brow. What could she be thinking of?

**Mokuba!** That was the whisper that dropped from her lips. _That was strange_, he thought.

**Touch me**! Now that was strange. It was almost as if she was having erotic dreams about Mokuba. But she only knew him today.

**I love you, Mokuba**! Katsuya blanched. She _was_ dreaming of Mokuba in an erotic manner. He couldn't take it. It wasn't that Mokuba was a bad kid. If he was honest, he liked the kid like he was his brother. However, he was too close to Kaiba Seto. And the ways that his dreams were heading, it would be better that he just avoid this Pandora's Box. But, he would not deny his sister.

Katsuya knocked on his sister's door. The lump that was his sister moved around in the sheets. "Yeah, onii-chan?" a sleepy response came through the door. "It's seven! Class is in an hour." The sound of rapid moving could be heard. After a few minutes, the strawberry-hair lass came out with a towel around her body. She hurried into the shower.

Katsuya made himself some cereal and ate. Shizuka came a few minutes later. She made herself some toast. "Not hungry, imoto-chan?"

"Not really!" Buttering her toast, she prepared for her day. Katsuya was in a difficult bind. He wanted to know what did she think about Mokuba, but he didn't want to pry. Logic was never his strong suit, not like ….

He stopped himself from having those thoughts. "Hey, Shi-chan," he began. "Why did you bring Mokuba to the party?" At that, she blushed and Katsuya caught it. "What's with the face? Why are you blushing?"

Shizuka was in a bind. She didn't want to lie to her brother However, she did feel that it wasn't her brother's business to know. She waged a mental war in her head to see the pros and cons of telling her brother. In the end, the pros won. She took a calming breath. "Mokuba is my boyfriend now, onii-chan."

To say that Jounouchi Katsuya was surprised when learning that his sister, Kawai Shizuka was involved with Kaiba Mokuba, the brother of Kaiba Seto, the one that haunted his dreams, or nightmares if you will, would be the understatement of the year. (A/N And if you were wondering how long that sentence was going to last, there you go.)

Well, the comment that he made about treasuring the time with his sister until she dated was ironic right about now. He didn't know that it was going to be so short. But, she was a grown woman. If she felt that this was the right decision to make, he would let her. Although he would not tell her about his relationship with the elder Kaiba, or the lack thereof; that wasn't important.

"I'm happy for you!" he finally told her. She wrapped her arms around her brother in a loving manner.

As so, she told him of what happened to make her fall in love with Mokuba. He fell out of it. That is the way that he felt the entire day. He spaced out, well, more than usual. His friends were stumped as to why. He was a mere shell of himself, still trying to comprehend letting go of his baby sister, much to the consternation of all of his teachers. Waving their hands over the blond did not bring out of his trance. The only thing that had any effect on him was the class bell. He headed for lunch.

Jou's mind was doing overtime trying to sort out the feelings that were bombarding him when who should cross his path than Kaiba Seto. He also was conflicted with the feelings that entered his heart. Jounouchi Katsuya raced in his mind more often than it did before and that was a bit unnerving for him. Never having romantic feelings for anyone before, the blue-eyed teen did not know what to do in a situation like this. Neither of them was paying attention to the external, focusing more on the internal. And so, as you can guess, they collided with each other.

Jou fell on his back and Kaiba his ass. Jou swore loudly as his body ached where he hurt. Kaiba, in comparison, glared immensely at the person that dared to make him fall, which happened to be his love interest.

The blue-eyed CEO was in quite a predicament. On one hand, he wanted to patch bridges so that his suit for the blond would be appreciated. On the other hand, Kaiba was trying to keep the persona that he created as a cold and calculated bastard. A mental war was waged in his fast-paced mind. Kaiba's reason warred with his heart and hormones. Unfortunately for his reason, a two-on-one fight is never fair. So there was a truce. He would help his love interest up, but Kaiba would not acknowledge it as a kind deed. The elder would just say that this act would mean nothing.

He got up rather gracefully and held out a slim hand to Jounouchi. The amber-eyed man was dumbstruck. Since when was Kaiba kind enough to lend out a helping hand. Kaiba glared at him. "Damn make inu, are you going to get up or not?" He sneered. Hopefully that would be convincing to the blond.

Unfortunately for him, it had the opposite effect. "Why the hell do you care whether or not I get up." The blond shouted at him, lifting himself from the ground and dusting himself off. He looked into his sapphire eyes. "I don't get it. Why do you have to be such a jerk?"

Jounouchi's eyes began to water so, in order that he not show weakness in front of his enemy, he did an about face. His walk was more rigid than normal as he removed himself from the CEO's presence.

Kaiba was at a loss for the first time by the amber-eyed man. This wasn't the reaction that he was expecting from him. Perhaps that was the wrong approach to take with him. Either way, his day was ruined. Kaiba's cell phone rang, discontinuing any more dwelling on the subject. He flipped it and answered very curtly. "What?" he seethed.

The person on the other line was stunned for a minute. "Kaiba-sama," a feminine voice answered him. "There is something you need to see. Please come to the office now." The line disconnected.

Kaiba collected himself before dialing another number. He put the phone to his ear and cleared his voice. "Listen, be at my school in five minutes or you're fired." With a scowl on his face, the young CEO closed his phone and waited outside of the school building.

* * *

Yuugi, still on cloud nine with his confirmed date tonight, walked around the school with a smile on his face. As he was turning a corner, he saw his best friend on a chair sitting outside of the cafeteria. Tears were coming from his eyes. It hurt his heart to see his friend suffer so much. Not only that, but guilt was also something that he was feeling because he was so caught up in his own happiness that he neglected all others. Laying a friendly hand on Jou's shoulder, he caught the teen's attention.

"What's wrong, Jou?" he asked, concern completely surrounding his whole persona. Jou looked at his best friend. "It's nothing you need to concern yourself about." To prove this, he tried to smile his tears away. Unfortunately, he was an open book to his friends. "Jou, this isn't Duel Monsters. You don't have to bluff." Yuugi added a joke so that there would be less tension between the two.

The blond sighed. "Today, I learned that Shizuka-chan has a boyfriend. Maybe I feel so jealous. All of my friends have some sort of love interest. Perhaps I wonder why someone would want me." Yuugi's eyes widened as he was told this. "I mean, what do I have to offer someone? Perhaps, love isn't for someone like me."

With that, he pushed away from Yuugi's eyes for, to him, they felt condemning. He left a stunned Yuugi in his wake and headed towards the roof.

Yuugi stood there for the longest time. He didn't know Anzu was behind him. "What happened, Yuugi?" she asked, noticing her boyfriend's rigid stance.

"I feel like a horrible friend." His voice came out thick, as if he was about to cry. Anzu, noting the tone that he used, figured that he was blaming himself for something. So she hugged him from behind. Yuugi sank into the warmth that the other provided, his tears subsiding for the moment. He told her of what had transpired just a minute ago. Anzu listened quietly and caressed his cheek in a friendly manner. "I don't think that we can help him at this point." She told him. Yuugi turned around so quickly and looked at her so fiercely that she was a bit afraid of what his next action could be. "How could you say something like that?" he bit out.

"I didn't mean it like that. It's just that he is going through something internal and most likely wants to be left alone." The spiky-haired teen calmed down substantially as she told him this. "But, if you like, we can call Jou's social worker and tell him of what we know. Perhaps he will know what to do."

Yuugi realized that Anzu was right. Jounouchi was going through some pain that was caused indirectly by the two of them. He leaned forward and planted a kiss on the dancer's cheek lightly. "I'm sorry that I exploded. I'll go and call him."

With that, he leaves his love. She smiles at his retreating form. No wonder she fell in love with him. Besides being cute, he was also caring and empathetic.

* * *

Mokuba and Shizuka sat at the lunch table together. Now that their feelings had been declared to one another, they didn't have to hide their thoughts. "I actually hid from you the first time that I met you." Mokuba tells his love. "I was so nervous. You made me feel things that I had never felt before. I couldn't understand it at first. I come in contact with many girls and none of them made me feel that way. It was then that I fell hard for you." He puts a hesitant hand along her shoulder, effectively hugging her.

Shizuka knew how much that move cost him, so she smiled to tell him without words that the gesture was welcomed. "Well, I saw the first day that I came back to Domino, a cute kid that made me actually enjoy coming to school. I saw him blushing whenever I looked at him and he made me feel things that I never felt. It was so strong. When I saw you sad, I just wanted to kiss you and make you feel better. But I didn't know how you would feel. And now, I don't have to hide."

They stayed like that for a while, eating their lunch in a comfortable silence.

* * *

Kaiba made his way to his company. There were reporters outside of the building. Whenever there were reporters, it meant that something big was about to happen and these vultures would come, circling the corpse to rip apart shreds of facts to concoct more lies. When the limo was making a complete stop, the vultures attacked, slamming his window and asking questions.

"Is it true that…." These were the sorts of questions that they asked. "No comment!" He told them all.

Entering KaibaCorp, his personal assistant looked at him in a no playing around way, holding a clipboard in her hands. "What is it, Sakura-san?" he asked her as they entered the elevator.

"Well, the biggest toy company, Excalibur, and the one of the biggest electronic technologies companies, HBC, are merging. If they are allowed to do this and succeed, then KaibaCorp will fall behind in the race to create gaming technology. But that's not the reason I called you over today."

Kaiba looked at her in his business only attitude. "Some of the shareholders from HBC feel that this is too hasty of a move and are appalled that they are merging with a longtime rival. So two of the most powerful shareholders would like to meet with you tonight and discuss plans for a takeover and a secret bid. With enough money, we can buy out HBC before Excalibur merges with them, allowing us to control the cards when they call the meeting in a week's time."

Kaiba mused over the facts in his head. It is logically a good idea, but people are very fickle. This could be a trap so that he would lose money on the shareholders, thereby funding their Research and Development Department. The elevator came to the top floor where his secretary, dressed in scantily revealing clothes that would never pass for business wear, greeted him. "Kaiba-sama, you have three messages from reporters…"

"You're fired." The blue-eyed CEO calmly tells her. She had no time to cover up the shock. "This is a place of business, not a whorehouse. Please remove your things from your desk and leave before I have Security escort you out." He made his way towards his office. Sakura Nicola looked at the fired secretary and stuck her tongue at her before entering her boss's office and shutting the door.

Kaiba, after taking his seat and turning on his desktop, looked at his personal assistant. "Sakura-san, set up the meeting with the two shareholders at the Golden Palace and make two separate reservations."

"May I ask what the second reservation is for?" she asked.

"Mokuba and his date are going to that restaurant. I want the table to be close that I can see him but enough to give him personal space." Kaiba, although afraid that his brother was growing up, wanted Mokuba to be happy. If dating this girl will make him happy, then dammit, let him be happy. It seemed like yesterday that the kid thought that girls had cooties.

"I am surprised that you would even allow him to date." She snorted. "If anything, I thought that you would make him a spinster like you." She laughed quietly.

Kaiba glared at the woman but otherwise said nothing. "What do we know of the two shareholders that we are meeting?" Kaiba asked to get back on track.

"Well, …" she trailed off. "Hey, are you saying that I am going with you?" she asked. Kaiba looked at the woman as if she should already know the answer.

"Well, you are my personal assistant as well as my vice-president so I guess that means YES, you are going." There was irritation in his voice and Nicola, being bright and since she had worked with him for so long, picked up on this.

"It sounds that you were rejected by your love, Seto-kun." To this comment, Kaiba stood at his full height, making the woman shuddered involuntarily. "I'm sorry. That was out of line."

Kaiba sighed. Never one asking for help, he took a seat. "What would you do in my situation?" he asked her valued opinion.

She looked at him with a face of extreme empathy. "I wish I could tell you, but Seto-kun, love isn't something that you can analyze. Love is something you feel. Love means wanting something so bad that you would give up most anything for that person. Love means wishing that person happiness, even if it doesn't include you. Love means being everything for that person and having the person do the same. To tell you what love is or to tell you what you should do in this position is impossible. That is something you must figure out for yourself." She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You're a bright boy. You'll figure something out."

With that, the two of them went back to work.

* * *

Jounouchi was staying at the sky as he laid on the roof. The one door that allowed access to this place opened and a man with silver braids walked towards him. "Are you feeling alright?" his social worker asked him.

Jou stood up and grinned at him. "Of course I am, Bri-kun." He told him.

Brittinia looked at him as if he already knew. "You're lying." He told his child softly. "Your face is an open book to me, Katsuya-kun."

Katsuya scoffed and put back on his sad face. "Are you going to tell me what is wrong, Katsuya-kun?"

The blond looked at his social worker. "How would you feel when the most important person to you left you for another?" he asked mysteriously.

"What do you mean?"

"I found out that Shizuka is dating Mokuba. On one hand, I am happy that she found someone to love her, but on the other hand, I feel as if a certain part of my heart was taken away from me." He stood up to face the man that he called friend. "Do I make sense?"

"Katsuya-kun, you need to understand," the silver-haired man walked over to Katsuya and placed a friendly arm around his shoulder. "When it comes to siblings, you have to learn that one day, they will find someone that will make them happy. Don't think of it as losing them, but gaining a new sibling."

Katsuya thought about this for a while. It did make sense. If someone had to date his sister, he rather it be one of his friends than a total stranger. "Yeah" he said, cheering up substantially. "That makes perfect sense. Thank you, Bri-kun."

With that, Katsuya went downstairs to his classroom, leaving a smiling social worker behind.

As he entered his class and sat down at his desk, his friends swarmed him. "Are you feeling alright?" Honda asked.

It was then that Kaiba, back from dealing with his impromptu meeting came into the class. "Are you kidding, Honda?" the blond told him in a loud voice. "I just remembered that I had a date with the one and only Kujaku Mai tonight."

Kaiba caught the words and was shocked, although his facial expressions showed nothing. _Dammit! I knew he was straight. Love means wishing that person happiness if it doesn't include you. Bah!_ The CEO's mind continued to rant as he overheard his love interest's bragging.

Finally, school was over. Kaiba looked for his little brother and saw him holding hands with a girl. She looked very familiar but she must not be important for him to remember her. He walked over to his brother with an air of importance. Shizuka must have felt this for she bowed her head low. Mokuba looked at the visage of his older brother. "Onii-sama, what is it?" he asked.

"I have to go to the office to plan a dinner meeting." He told him, not bothering to look at the girl that stole him away from her. "Your reservation is at 7:00 at the Golden Palace under the name Kaiba Mokuba."

Mokuba nodded his head and made a hand motion to Shizuka. "This is my girlfriend, Kawai Shizuka." She bowed slightly and said a quiet hello. Kaiba gruffly returned the greeting. "Oh, just so you know, Shizuka's brother is Jounouchi."

At that, Kaiba's eyes steeled. What force was working against him that made everything point to the blond? He nodded politely at the girl for the sake of his brother and left.

Shizuka looked at her boyfriend strangely. "What was that about?" she asked. "Well, your brother and mine aren't on particularly good terms." He left it at that and it was satisfactory for her as she walked home with the ebony-haired bishounen escorting her.

* * *

It was 6 o'clock in a familiar posh apartment. Shizuka had already left for her date with Mokuba. Jounouchi, no longer plagued by sadness, prepared for his date with the Amazon. He always had a thing for her. She had noticeably changed from a stuck-up, look out for number one pretty girl into a caring individual. And he liked that. Now, all he needed was to prove that he liked her more than the dream Kaiba.

He resolved into not taking a nap as it would most likely make him dream about Kaiba. He did not need that. Putting on a blue-leather jacket over a brown shirt and denim jeans, he gave himself a once-over in the mirror. He looked good. Deciding against a comb because his locks would stubbornly not stay in any place but messy, he left his hair like it would normally.

He looked in his wallet. There was 10,000 yen in it. Not that the messenger job was paying much, most of his money came from the stipend that the Ministry of Social Services paid him. This was enough to take Mai to the swankiest restaurant in Domino, the Golden Palace.

The blond looked at the microwave clock. It read 6:30. Taking his keys, his motorcycle helmet and a spare, Jounouchi left his apartment.

* * *

Kaiba and Sakura made it to the Golden Palace at exactly 6:50. The CEO wore a dressier version of his customary trench coat, blue as if it were a suit, under a button down blue shirt and white dress pants. Sakura was wearing a purple strapless dress. At a close glance, the two of them might have looked like they were dating. However, the colors and the outfits were chosen very carefully by a Public Relations worker. Kaiba's outfit was meant to say that he meant business while Sakura's said that we welcome you.

The two sat in a booth at the far west of the restaurant, waiting for the shareholders to come, which they did at promptly 7 o'clock.

The more influential shareholder was a woman with salt-and-pepper hair and a blue blouse with matching slacks. The other shareholder was a balding man with a dirty brown three piece suit.

The woman spoke first. "So you decided to take us on our offer. You give us 100 million yen to divide between the shareholders and we will give you majority control in HBC."

As Kaiba and the woman talked shop, Sakura noticed from her peripheral vision that a familiar head of ebony hair came in, escorting a lovely girl. She had strawberry colored hair and an aura of kindness and innocence. Mokuba, in her opinion, chose well. She discreetly alerted her boss of the arrival of the two.

Mokuba was feeling a little nervous since the start of his date. This being his first one, he watched his actions and made sure that he made the right one. He was unsure of his clothes choice, a denim vest over a red turtleneck and white slacks. His breathing was erratic and uneven. Shizuka, on the other hand, was in awe at the place. There were chandeliers on the ceiling and air of adultness here. She had on a simple pink blouse with a matching skirt.

They sat down at a table on the far east of the room. Shizuka looked at her boyfriend and noticed his erratic breathing. She grabbed his hand and looked him in the eye. "You look nice tonight and don't worry," She smiled lightly. "I like you even though you look like you got dressed in the dark." Her smile broadened as he chuckled a bit. "Be proud that you can pull off the colorblind look off." (1)

That was the tension breaker for Mokuba. He smiled. "Thank you, Shizuka. I like your dress." The waiter came and the two placed their orders.

At 7:30, Jounouchi and Kujaku Mai entered the Golden Palace. Mai was wearing an orange spaghetti strap shirt and denim jeans. The two were escorted to a table at the far south of the restaurant.

As Kaiba's table, they were on their appetizers when Kaiba noticed blond hair. As he focused on the owner of that hair, it turned out to be none other than Jounouchi Katsuya. Of all of the coincidences that has happened in his life, this has to take the cake. Not only was his brother out on his date here, his love interest was here also.

Sakura noticed that her boss's attention was slightly diverted. She followed from were his eyes were staring to a cute blond boy with a very beautiful woman. From their conversations, the personal assistant assumed that the boy was that Katsuya fellow. She snorted lightly at the irony of the situation before turning her attention to the business dinner.

Jounouchi, clueless to the fact that his sister, her date, and his worst enemy, were at the same restaurant as he was. Rather he allowed himself to be immersed in small talk with Mai. As she was talking about the stuff that had happened to her, the blond seemed to get a bit bored with her. It seemed as if he was slipping away from reality. _That's because you are deluding yourself._

Unnoticeably, Jounouchi flinched. It seemed as if his subconscious decided to talk to him after a long period of silence. "And how am I deluding myself?" he asked himself. _Oh, you like Mai but only as a friend. It is Kaiba that you want as something more than a friend._ "No, you're wrong!" he shouted mentally. _Ok, but as you end the dinner, kiss her and then tell me that I'm wrong._ "Fine, I will." He told himself, if a bit childishly.

Kaiba's dinner meeting ended with the parties agreeing with getting a quarter of the agreed amount of money now and the rest of the payment when the takeover was complete. The two shareholders left his presence.

Sakura looked at him. "Well, that meeting exceeded my expectations. I was surprised that you argued them down to that low of an amount." But Kaiba's attentions were elsewhere. It seems as if the blond was done with his meal. He glared at the woman that Jounouchi chose over him. Not that he presented himself as a viable option to the blond, but since glaring at him would not make him feel as good, his terrifying gaze fell on a oblivious Amazon. A hand waved in front of his face, interrupting him from glaring that woman into a pile of goo.

"You know, she isn't going to drop dead from you glaring at her." She looked at him and his forehead had crease marks in them. He was pissed.

Oblivious to the constant attention that they were receiving, Jounouchi looked over his dinner companion. Sure she was beautiful, but she did not provoke the same reaction as the dream Kaiba did. It couldn't be right. So, to prove to his damn subconscious that he was, in fact, straight, he leaned across the table. Mai saw this and allowed him to make his move. Their lips met but, oddly enough, there was no spark. The amber-eyed teen pulled back.

"Thank you for the dinner, Jou." She said quickly. "But I think that it would be better that we remain friends." She smiled at him and he smiled back. Not a powerful one, mind you, the smile didn't reach his eyes. "I think so too, Mai."

With that, the two left the restaurant keeping a comfortable distance between them, still oblivious to the looks that a very pissed off CEO was sending them.

The blue-eyed teen, although he couldn't hear the words that passed between HIS Puppy and the woman that decided to come between them, he could see that kiss. "He kissed her. He kissed her." Kaiba repeatedly said in his head. At his side, Sakura looked at him with the utmost sympathy. She kept her mouth shut until he rose from his seat. "I think it's time to go." The long-haired woman nodded and allowed Kaiba to pick up the tab.

At the door, Sakura got into her car and waved to Kaiba. "If it's any consolation, I still think that you have a shot. They were not close after the kiss. It was as if they were keeping their distance." She got in and drove off. Kaiba did the same.

When he made it back to his mansion, he just headed to his room. What if Sakura was right? He thought. But then, that kiss would have to mean nothing. Deciding that he was emotionally tired, he fell asleep, once again, oblivious to the ethereal blue wisps above his head.

Jounouchi went back to his apartment. He ran quickly to his room and shut the door. Leaning against it, he slid down till he was sitting on the floor. Instead of crying or feeling sad, he laughed. It was more than a light chuckle but less than rip-roaring laughter. There was sarcasm and irony in his laugh. "So, even my subconscious is smarter than me. How ironic." He snorted. "But now, what do I do about it?"

He got undressed and fell asleep on his bed, never seeing the ethereal blue wisps above his head.

* * *

Author's Note: I am so sorry that this is late. I haven't heard from my beta in a long time, which delayed the writing of this fic. Plus, my computer was on the fritz and the internet wasn't working. Another thing that happened was that I had too many ideas for this chapter, some felt out of character for this fic. It is difficult to write a Seto romance fic because the idea itself is OOC. So it is more of an internal thinking chapter instead of a talking one. I am happy but not satisfied with how it came out. But tell me what you think of this. And don't worry, the next chapter won't take as long.

(1) This is an actual retelling of what happened on my first date. I was so nervous that I didn't realize what I had put on until my date informed me of it. This is a tribute to that night.


	5. Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Author's Note: Dear readers, please forgive me with how very late this update is. When I look at the last chapter and I said that the update wouldn't be too long, I laughed. But, dear reader, allow me to tell you what happened to me and this fic! Around March 18, I published the first chapter of Dearly Beloved. March 20 was my beta's birthday, so my friends and I celebrated by taking him out to dinner. Around April 23, I started revamping one of the first puppyshipping stories I have ever read with the blessing of StrawberryVanilla. That became Young Hearts, Run Free. From then until June, I updated each of those fics. But sometime around the end of June, I finally finished this chapter. And I put it in my safe so that innocent eyes did not view it. But, because of a programming error, all of my files were wiped out. Oh, dear reader, how I cried. I was inconsolable for a good week. Then I started to work. For the summer, I barely was on Fanfiction, let alone writing them. So, about the time I returned to college, I started this. Around that time, I got pneumonia, which drained me of my energy. So now that I finally fought that off, here is the next chapter. I hope that you will forgive me this 7 month delay. In return, I have given you a really long chapter, complete with a duel and a huge plot event at the end. 

Chapter 5: One Step Forward, Two Back

* * *

Seto and Katsuya lay together under the Sakura tree, sweaty, sticky, and heaving. After many times dancing the horizontal tango as some people call it, the young, virile boys gave it a rest. And for good reason too. Because their relationship started because of a simple rivalry, there was always the need to outdo one another. And of course that would translate into their sex life. Once the two were tired to continue, they just ended it. And now, very little has changed.

Seto ran his index finger along his lover's leg, the ghost touch making the blond moan. No words were really needed. Both of them were men of action. Why ruin a good thing? A gentle touch here, a tiny peck there. Those spoke more than any words could. It was all they needed.

The blond sighed in happiness. "You do realize how much you mean to me?" It was rhetorical in a sense.

His lover looked at the beautiful form that he was holding in his arms. "How much?" he asked.

"Without realizing it, you snuck into my heart and now, I wouldn't know what to do without you." Katsuya looked at his dragon with shining amber eyes. Brilliant Prussian blue were staring right back at him.

"I would have never guessed that all of the fighting and the rivalry that we had was just a guise so that we would have an excuse to be near one another." Seto chuckled. "And in the end, our true feelings were laid to the fore. We have been ignorant and missed out on so many opportunities and memories, so let us make sure that we don't lose out on any more.

With those sweet words, the world began to come into focus.

* * *

Kaiba Seto was never one to panic. It was against his nature of being cool and collected. So when he woke up from a dream with romantic parameters about his worst enemy turned infatuation, it would be natural to be a bit disturbed. However, the acting of showing distress is beneath him. An internal person by rearing, the blue-eyed CEO uses reason to mark his every move.

In the end, he could only blame himself for creating a love interest. It was all of the merciless teasing that cause the unnecessary bonding with the mutt, Jounouchi Katsuya. Now, he is slowly sinking towards the bottom of the pit of infatuation, from which there will be no escape.

There are a few steps he _could_ take. He _could_ admit to Jounouchi that he loved him. He _could_ move away from Domino, effectively destroying the want for Jounouchi. He _could_ allow it to fester, driving him slowly insane. He _could_ erase the blond forever. He could do all of those things. But reason and logic prevented him from doing anything of the sort as being too extraneous, too illogical, and too stupid.

This morning, he did not wake up with a raging hard-on, but he felt his face go hot with all of the soft words.

It wasn't like him to even acquiesce to feelings in general. Feelings are a horrible way of directing one's life, according to Kaiba Seto. Jounouchi's life was a cautionary tale to him. See what happens when you act like this?

It was then that Seto caught himself thinking about the mutt. For someone that he actively referred to as a mutt, a dog that is worthless to society, he was thinking about him so very often.

Not wanting to delve deeper into the manner, especially on a Friday when there is no school (the electrical grid short-circuited, causing the heating and water system to malfunction), Seto made the queen-size bed and prepared himself to go to work.

* * *

Jounouchi Katsuya was also getting up. Unlike Kaiba, he was surprised at the warm and fuzzy feelings of the dream. It was unusual to say the least. Wasn't it the other day that he was distressing over the fact that he was gay and attracted to Kaiba?

It didn't make sense at all. Why was he at peace with the fact that he had a romantic dream about the cold CEO? Kaiba was the opposite of his dream facsimile. It boggled the mind.

He was surprised at how quickly he had forgotten the date that he went on yesterday. Mai was a very beautiful woman, but there was no spark. Jou felt bad that he used her. Even more so that he was unsuccessful in proving to himself that he was not a homosexual.

Sighing, Katsuya stretched out his limbs to get the sleep out of them. Moving to the bathroom, he prepared for his day. Today, he was to meet his social worker for their weekly session. Not that Brittinia made him go to the boring office. He always took him to somewhere fun, all on the Ministry's account.

Today, he was taking Jou to Kaibaland. Not that the blond was ungrateful for the chance to play free games, oh no. It had everything to do with the dreams that he has been having. Bumping into Kaiba in school everyday is bad enough. But outside of school boundaries and on his home field no less, that was something Jou wanted to avoid at all cost.

Perhaps this is one thing that he should bring up with him. But for right now, he will stay in bed, just resting and contemplating the fact of this new dream.

* * *

At 6:50 on the dot, Kaiba was driven into the parking lot of the building that bore his name. As he was getting out of the limo, someone in a modest Mercedes was pulling in. Kaiba scoffed. It figures that Sakura Nicola would drive something like that. She wasn't worried about appearance as she could make anything look good. She wasn't above using her looks to get KaibaCorp's adversaries to acquiesce. However, she didn't allow her looks to define her, unlike his former secretary.

Not that these accolades made him wait for her in the parking lot. She could take care of herself. The elevator ride gave him some time to think. Why Jou at this particular point of time was the question on his mind. The blond mutt was always there. Something had to have happened that caused the catalyst. When did he start feeling these things?

Going back, Kaiba remembered a day when he and Jou were arguing in front of his brand new blood red Lamborghini. Something happened to cause two, otherwise, healthy teens to clutch their respective chests as if they were having a heart attack. It would be a good idea to further investigate this. As he finished that thought, the elevator reached the top floor.

The big, bad CEO walked to his office and sat in his desk. Booting up the desktop with the biometrics touchpad, Kaiba was prepared to start his day. Five minutes later, his personal assistant walked into the office, grinning at the blue-eyed teen. Her green eyes sparkled with humor.

"I'm hurt." She faked with a phony sniff. "Do you know that a woman like me could have been accosted by unsavory characters?"

The blue-eyed teen took a stack of papers on his desk and started to order them into his agenda for the day. Without missing a beat, Kaiba made his retort. "Then that would mean I would look for someone to do what you do."

Sakura Nicola decided that she wouldn't dignify that with a response. Moving towards her seat, the two prepared the agenda for the day.

"So, how is Mokuba-kun?" The long-haired woman asked after situating herself in her desk.

"He is doing fine since you saw him the other day." Kaiba responded, deftly avoiding the issue that she really wanted to talk about.

"I meant after his date." Unfortunately, she would not be deterred. "And how did you feel after it."

"We didn't talk he came home." He told her. "I fell asleep as soon as I got back from the business dinner. He came in an hour later, woke me up to tell me that he was in and went to sleep. Before I headed to work, I stopped by his room and let him sleep in."

He tried to end the conversation but Sakura Nicola was not one to leave any loose ends. "You didn't answer the second question. How do you feel about Mokuba-kun dating a woman?"

"I don't have a problem with it." The blue-eyed teen snapped.

"Try again, Seto-kun." Immovable green eyes stared back at him.

Kaiba stood to his full height and the room almost began to darken, just like his mood. Sakura was so shocked at this development that she was struck with paralysis. "Are you trying to get me to admit that when Mokuba started going on his date, I felt as if he was pushing me away? That he is growing up and will someday go off on his own? That he has someone who reciprocates his feelings? Is that what you want me to admit?"

It's not everyday that the great Kaiba Seto loses his temper. But when he does, it's a scary thing, even for people close to him. Sakura, seeing the fury in his dangerous blazing sapphire eyes, tried to back away from the conversation but Kaiba just continued.

"Or is it that you want me to admit that I am jealous of what Mokuba has with that girl, Kawai Shizuka and how I want that kind of relationship with a guy that would in no wise ever return my feelings?" After Kaiba's seething ended, he sat down and closed his eyes, centering his focus of control.

This would have to be the first time since the first day of joining KaibaCorp under the first Kaiba that Sakura Nicola was afraid to continue. She could see, along with anger, pain and frustration in his eyes and body language. She was about ready to begin the day when the teen looked at her. As she stared into his eyes, she could finally see him look his age. He wasn't the boy who had to become a man in a ruthless dog-eat-dog world. For the first time, she could see an everyday teenager that was questioning everything he had experienced.

"Do you believe in irony?" he murmured. "I believe that this is my punishment for scorning Jounouchi's friendship. Now all I am left with is a growing infatuation that won't go away."

Sakura felt very bad for bringing this on Kaiba. "Forgive me, Seto-kun. I shouldn't be prying."

"Let it go." He told her. It was the closest thing that she would get as to being forgiven. With that done, she went back to work.

* * *

Jounouchi, after having sneezed for what seemed like a gazillion times, decided that it was time to get out of bed.

While normally he would have taken a shower, something compelled him to go into the living room. Inside the living room was Shizuka with his pastels, painting upon the blank easel. She wasn't doing a very good job as shown through her amateurish strokes. But what she lacked in experience, she made up for in enthusiasm.

With a huge grin on his face, he decided to sneak up on her. Tiptoeing so that he would not be heard, he raised his hands in the air.

Very suddenly, he yelled and placed his hands on his sister. She jumped and accidentally smacked him in the face with the paintbrush which, unfortunately, had some blue paint on it. And that blue paint was smeared on the blond's cheek. There was a space of a few seconds where neither one moved, both taking in the seriousness of the situation. That was the space necessary for Jou to take some of the blue paint and smearing it on his sister's cheek.

This is the start of the paint war. The two of them took the paints and splattered it on the other. There were many casualties of this war, including Jounouchi's couch and floor. The siblings had more colors in their hair than Yuugi did and that's saying something.

Out of breath but still giggling, Katsuya and Shizuka collapsed on the paint-smeared couch. "You don't know how much I miss these spontaneous moments, Shizuka." Her brother told her. "You don't know how much missed all of these little moments."

She nodded in the affirmative.

As we were still catching our breath, the doorbell rang. Katsuya was not expecting visitors at this time so he wondered who it could be.

As the blond opened the door, he saw that there was no one at his eye level. Either someone was playing tricks with the doorbell or he had to look down. Sure enough, there was his friend Yuugi.

Yuugi, on the other hand, was shocked at the figure that opened the door. Sure it was Jou. But he had paint in his hair, on his shirt and all over his face. What could have happened that would have caused such an outcome? The blond laughed sheepishly. "Shi-chan and I were having some fun with the paint."

Yuugi shook his head in amusement. It just seemed like a Jou thing to do.

The blond teen invited his multi-colored haired friend inside. The sound of running water alerted them that Shizuka was taking a shower.

Yuugi was here on a mission. Since Jou let out at school that he was going out on a date with Mai, he made it his mission to see that the two were an item in a week's time. Think of it as revenge (or the gentle push) that he received when he was asking Anzu for a date).

Jou offered his friend a seat on a chair that was untainted by the paints. "So what are you doing here, Yuugi?"

"I was wondering what your plans were for today." The smaller teen answered. "None of the guys have plans, so I'm wondering if you have any."

"Yeah, I have a weekly session with Bri-kun today." He responded quickly. "He's taking me to Kaibaland. You guys are welcomed to come if you want to."

"Yeah! That sounds like a good idea." Yuugi got out his cellphone and started dialing numbers.

As he was making a call, Shizuka came out of the shower, dressed in a pink t-shirt and some jeans. "Shower's free, Katsu-chan." She told him. And with that, the blond boy headed to the shower, leaving the two of them to talk about their plans.

Katsuya stepped into the warm spray. It was quite relieving to have the warm water pulsate on his cool skin. It was something very calming. It also gave him time to think

How was he going to bring this up to his social worker? He felt stupid to just say, _I just found out that I am gay and I have an infatuation with a boy who hates me_. That would probably get him a one-way ticket to the loony bin. But then again, Bri-kun seemed like a very laid-back guy. He probably wouldn't react in revulsion or the like.

The blond shook his head in frustration. In the end, he was probably worried about his friends' reactions to this news. It was very important that they accept him for who he was, even if he did turn out to be gay.

As he was washing his hair and watching the paints spiral down the drain, his thoughts then came to Kaiba. From what he knew, either from Mokuba's limited contact with them or the untrustworthy tabloids, Kaiba had never publicly announced that he had a girlfriend of any sort. It meant one of three things. One thing that it could mean was that he has a girlfriend and the media doesn't know about it. But that would mean that he was not telling his little brother. That doesn't sound like Kaiba. A second thought was that he was not interested in any kind of relationship at all. That seems more like Kaiba. He was so engrossed in his company that having a relationship of either the hetero or homosexual kind was not possible. Katsuya could only pity the CEO if this was true. Then there was the third possibility. Kaiba was gay and either has a gay lover that no one knows about or is not in a relationship for fear of his company.

Katsuya turned off the shower and stepped out, wrapping a towel around his waist. Best not to overthink these things. An old saying comes to mind. "If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride."

The blond went to his room and changed into a white t-shirt and jeans. He put his dueling deck in his pocket. From what he heard from Bri-kun, he could play Duel Monsters as well. Katsuya was going to challenge him to a duel today.

Katsuya came to the living room where two teenagers were looking at him slyly. The blond stopped in his tracks. Why were they looking at him so strangely? "Onii-chan, what happened on your date with Mai-san?" Shizuka asked.

Jou's face was crestfallen. He really didn't want to get into that right now. He was still reeling from the fact that he was gay. This was coming sooner than he wanted.

Shizuka saw his face and was shocked. Yuugi was perplexed. What could have happened on that date that could have made his friend's countenance fall like that?

"We decided that it would be better for us to just be friends." Jou told the two teens.

This information completely bowled over Yuugi and Shizuka. "But we both agree that Mai was the perfect woman for you." The shorter teen argued. "You two were perfect for each other."

"There was no spark, Yuugi." Jounouchi responded sagely, as if he was an old master in the ways of love. "If there is no spark, then pretending there is would only cause us pain."

"But Katsu-chan …" Shizuka insisted.

"Please enough." The blond yelled, causing the teens to squirm in their seats. "You guys weren't there. Please believe me when I tell you there was no spark. I am just as confused as you guys, so can you please drop it."

There was a terrifying silence for a while. Fortunately, that was broken by Yuugi's cellphone ringing. It was Honda, calling to confirm the plan to go to Kaibaland.

As Yuugi ended the call, Jounouchi plastered a smile on his face. "Now let us go to Kaibaland!"

Both Shizuka and Yuugi realized that Jou was putting up a front so that he wouldn't have to discuss these issues.

The teens took the bus because Jou's motorcycle could only fit one other person. They did not talk on the bus but at least the silence was bearable.

As the bus stopped directly at Kaibaland, they were greeted by Honda, Anzu, Ryou and Otogi. And so, the seven of them came to the ticket line, where they met a familiar man with silver braids.

"Welcome, Jounouchi Katsuya-kun, to Kaibaland." Brittinia cried in a happy voice. As he saw the crowd with him, he smiled. "Welcome also, friends of Katsuya-kun."

Jou waved at his social worker. "Hey Bri-kun! I hope you don't mind that I brought my friends with me."

"Nah, s'alright." He responded with a smile. "But here's a problem. I don't think that I have the money to pay for all of you guys."

"We have our own money, Tranae-san, so you don't have to worry about paying for us." Anzu told him.

When everyone bought a ticket, Jou led the group to one of the dueling stations. Renting two of the duel discs from Battle City, he gave one to his social worker and attached his to his arm. The blond then led the group to a dueling ring where he and Brittinia could duel. The rest of the group went to a viewing station to obverse the duel, cheering Jou on.

As the two prepared their decks, Jou flashed a smile to his silver-haired social worker. "Do you really know how to duel, Bri-kun?" He asked the older man. "Because I am going to tell you right now that I will not go easy on you."

"Well I am glad that you won't go easy on me." The braided man retorted. "But you are acting as if you have this duel already won."

"Well, I did come in second in Duelist Kingdom and I was in the top four in Battle City." As he polished his own apples, he didn't see that his social worker was already prepared and placing his deck in the automated shuffler.

"Perhaps you should get your cards shuffled now, Katsuya-kun." Brittinia told him. That called Jou to blush.

* * *

The cards were shuffled. The life point counters were set to 8000. All that was left was to decide who goes first.

"Age before beauty, Bri-kun." The blond winked.

"I have both, Katsuya-kun." Brittinia rebutted as he drew a card. He placed two cards face-down in the magic and trap card zone and one card in face-down defense mode. "Before I end my turn, Katsuya-kun, I'll play my magic card, Delinquent Duo."

Jounouchi blanched. _"I didn't realize that he would have some good cards or know how to play it."_ He thought.

"For the price of 1000 life points, I get to randomly choose one of your cards and send it to the graveyard." He explained. "Then you must choose a card and send it to the graveyard. Pretty good effect, eh Katsuya-kun."

Brittinia walked over to Jou and discarded his Fiend Megacyber. As Brittinia walked back to his spot, Jou discarded his Swordsman of Landstar.

A scoreboard showed Yuugi and the gang the two cards that Brittinia made Jounouchi discard. "Wow!" Ryou remarked. "That was an excellent opening play. Not only did Tranae-san made Jou discard his powerful Fiend Megacyber, but also he now will have four cards after he draws his next card. That limits some of the choices he can make."

"Well, it may be a blow to Jou, but at least he can recover from it." Yuugi remarked. "He's come out of tough situations before. On the bright side, at least the fate of the world isn't resting on his shoulders this time."

Brittinia ended his turn. (Score Brittinia 7000, Katsuya 8000)

Jou drew his card, Gearfreid the Iron Knight. In his hand, he had Alligator Sword, Kunai with Chain, Dragon's Rage, and Gearfreid the Iron Knight. He placed Kunai with Chain facedown and placed Gearfreid in attack mode.

"I play Gearfreid, the Iron Knight in attack mode." Jou announced in a loud voice. A hologram of the creature appeared on the field via the duel disc. Now the blond surveyed the field. Brittinia had two cards facedown and one card in facedown defense mode. It could be anything. But if he leaves where it is, his social worker could command whatever it is to attack him.

After a moment of deliberation, Jounouchi decided on his course of action. "Gearfreid the Iron Knight will attack your facedown card."

Gearfried attacked the facedown card, which was revealed to be Needle Worm. Brittinia smirked. "Needle Worm is a flip effect, Katsuya-kun and you just activated it. Its effect is you must discard the top five cards in your deck. Please do that now."

Jounouchi realized that he wasn't dueling an amateur. Brittinia knew exactly what he was doing. His cards turned out to be Dark Hole, Dian Keto the Cure Master, Trap Hole, Battle Warrior, and Flame Manipulator.

Jounouchi ended his turn. (Score Katsuya 8000, Brittinia 7000)

Brittinia drew a card and smirked. "I'll play my trap card, Conscription. It forces you to draw the top card in your deck. If it's a monster card, I can special summon it on the field. If it's anything else, it goes to your hand."

Jounouchi drew his card. It happened to be another Gearfreid. Jounouchi grimaced at losing his other Gearfreid but it had to be done.

* * *

Back at KaibaCorp, Kaiba Seto and Sakura Nicola were quietly doing whatever big companies like KaibaCorp do when an alert flashed across Kaiba's screen. Kaiba stopped typing to see that Jounouchi Katsuya was dueling in Kaibaland.

Sakura looked at Kaiba as he stopped working and went over to his desk to see what he was staring at. It was a duel alert. Now, she was interested. "Which high level duelist is using your machine?"

Kaiba snorted, knowing how ridiculous this was going to sound. "Jounouchi!" he answered.

His personal assistant's eyebrow rose to a querying glance. "I thought you said when you were preparing the list for Battle City that he was a third-rate duelist. If that's so, then how come he is on your alert list?"

"I told him he was a third-rate duelist compared to me." Kaiba snorted. "But that doesn't change the fact that he is an accomplished duelist. He is like the dark horse of dueling."

Sakura looked at her boss as he told her this. It seemed that he was talking in a wistful voice. It was almost reminiscent of a time when he wasn't Kaiba Seto, the CEO of KaibaCorp, but Kaiba Seto, a teenager who happened to be one of the great champions of Duel Monsters.

"So who is he dueling?" She asked.

"Some guy name Tranae Brittinia." The teen told her and he looked at her. She was smirking.

"He is in for a surprise." She said humorously. "Brittinia is a very skilled duelist."

"You know him?" The blue-eyed teen asked.

"You don't remember? He's the guy that picked me up from the office the other day, the guy that Mokuba-kun thought was my boyfriend." Kaiba nodded as Sakura explained his relationship with Brittinia.

An idea was forming in his head. "Sakura, do you want to go and watch this duel in person?" He asked. Although the way he asked, it sounded as if he was pleading for her permission.

"A field trip, Seto-kun?" she queried. "Sounds like a fun idea. Let's go."

Kaiba put his computer on standby and took his briefcase, which contained his laptop and dueling deck. Sakura also put her computer on standby and took her dueling deck. (By an ordinance of the KaibaCorp's office, all employees must have their own deck and have some understanding of the game's mechanics.) With everything packed, Kaiba called his personal chauffeur and they got into his limo.

"What kind of deck does Tranae use?" Kaiba asked.

"His deck is a deck-destroying deck." Sakura answered. "His deck goes after cards in the hand and deck and sends them in the graveyard. What Jounouchi will learn is never attack Brittinia blindly. It will do him in."

With that, Kaiba and Sakura headed to Kaibaland.

* * *

Brittinia looked at the cards in his hand. "I sacrifice Gearfreid for Vampire Lord." The hologram of Gearfreid disappeared and a hologram of a giant vampire appeared. It had an attack of 2000 to Jou's Gearfreid's 1800.

"Vampire Lord. Attack Katsuya-kun's Gearfreid." The Vampire Lord obeyed and Jou's monster was destroyed. Unfortunately, because of Gearfreid's effect, he wasn't able to activate Kunai with Chain.

From the viewing area, Honda scoffed at the scant damage Brittinia inflicted. "So he lost 200 life points. Jou will pull out."

Yuugi shook his head. "That's not all, Honda. Vampire Lord has a special effect."

"Allow me to tell you about Vampire Lord's special effect." Brittinia explained. "I will call out a type of card, either monster, magic or trap. You must send to the graveyard the card that corresponds with what I call out. But before you do that, allow me to reveal my other facedown card. It's called Robbin' Zombie. Its effect is whenever I cause battle damage to you, you must discard the top card in your deck."

Jou blanched. "So that's his strategy." He realized. "He is trying to deck me out."

"I call trap, Katsuya-kun." Brittinia called out. Jou discarded the top card which was Hinotama and his trap card, Skull Dice.

Brittinia looked at his charge. Something was off with him. "Something's distracting you." He called out to him.

"I have something on my mind that I want to talk to you about later, Bri-kun." Jou admitted.

"Don't worry, Katsuya-kun." The silver-haired social worker smiled. "You'll have my full attention. But right now, would you give your full attention to the duel? I don't want to beat you without you playing at your full potential."

To that, Jou grinned. "Who said that I am going to lose?"

Brittinia placed one card facedown and ended his turn. (Score Brittinia 7000, Katsuya 7800)

Honda looked at his shorter friend. "What's so special about Tranae-san's deck?"

"He is destroying Jou's deck by effects so far." Yuugi explained. "Perhaps he is trying to deck Jou out." Honda didn't respond to that, but continued watching.

* * *

Mokuba was supervising Kaibaland to make sure that everything was going his brother's way. He was carrying around a clipboard with paper, writing notes on what needed to be improved when he stumbled across one dueling ring in particular. He recognized one of the duelists as Jounouchi and smiled. Perhaps Shizuka was here as well. And if not, it would be a good thing to hang out with his girlfriend's brother. He made his way inside the ring.

* * *

Jounouchi drew his next card, Pot of Greed. It was a good card, so far. But that facedown card worried him a bit. It could be anything, and the blond was willing to bet anything that it was going to make him discard cards. In other words, he had to play conservatively.

"I play Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw 2 cards." Jou announced. His opponent nodded and the blond drew Time Wizard and Baby Dragon. Jou couldn't have asked for a better hand. But still, the facedown card was a threat to his hand. Perhaps he could bluff his way out.

"I play Time Wizard in attack mode and play one card facedown." Placing his Dragon's Rage card facedown, he prepared for Time Wizard's effect. "I activate Time Wizard's effect. I flip a coin. If I call it, your monster is destroyed. If I'm wrong, my Time Wizard is gone and I lose 250 life points."

Brittinia quirked an eyebrow, but said nothing. Jou produced a coin and flipped it. "I call tails. Tails never fails." It landed on tails. Vampire Lord was destroyed.

"Time Wizard, attack his life points directly." Brittinia took another hit to his life points. It wasn't much, but it was a start. "I end my turn, Bri-kun." Jou announced. (Score: Katsuya 7800, Brittinia 6500)

Brittinia drew his next card and smirked. "I activate my Vampire Lord's special effect. If it sent to the graveyard by a monster's special effect, then I am allowed to special summon it to the field." The hologram of the Vampire Lord returned to the field. "Now I will place my Gravekeeper's Servant magic card on the field. For every time you call an attack, you must discard the top card in your deck."

Jou blanched again. So he was right in assuming that Brittinia was going after his cards instead of his life points. This meant that every attack he made had to be very powerful or else he will run out of cards and lose the duel.

Brittinia called out to his monster. "Vampire Lord, attack his Time Wizard." As the vampire rushed to attack the oversized clock, Jou pushed a button on his duel disc.

"Sorry, Bri-kun. But I activate my trap, Kunai with Chain." The kunai wrapped around the vampire, effectively stopping him. The Time Wizard gained an additional 500 attack points which brought its attack power to 1000.

The smirk on Brittinia's face disappeared and was replaced by a look of displeasure. "You still can't destroy my Vampire Lord with your Time Wizard." He told him matter-of-factly. With that, he ended his turn. (Score: Brittinia 6500, Katsuya 7800)

Jou drew his next card. It was Polymerization. A wide grin grew on his face. "Alright! Now we're talking. I activate Polymerization to fuse Time Wizard and Baby Dragon to create Thousand Dragon." Time Wizard's hologram was replaced by an enormous dragon. Brittinia's eyes widened at the site of the dragon.

"I also summon Alligator Sword." A giant bipedal alligator was created via hologram.

"Now Thousand Dragon, attack Vampire Lord." Jou commanded. The Vampire Lord was destroyed and Brittinia lost 400 life points. Unfortunately for Jou, because of Brittinia's Gravekeeper's Servant, he had to discard the top card, which turned out to be Legendary Fisherman.

"Alligator Sword, attack Brittinia's life points directly." Before the attack could commence, the blond had to again discard the top card, which turned out to be Shields and Swords. Unfortunately for Jou, this time Brittinia was ready for him.

"I'll activate my trap card now, Katsuya-kun." The silver-haired social worker smirked. "It's called A Rival Appears. I choose one of your monsters to activate it. Then I can summon a monster with the exact number of stars attached to it. I choose your Alligator Sword. It has four stars, so I will summon my four-star Vorse Raider."

Vorse Raider's hologram entered the field. "So do you want to continue this attack?" he asked. Vorse Raider's attack was 1900 while Alligator Sword was 1500. It would be a failed gambit to attack. Jou ended his turn. (Score: Katsuya 7800, Brittinia 6100)

* * *

Mokuba caught up with Jou's group. "Hey guys!" Shizuka turned around and saw her boyfriend waving in their direction. She waved back.

"Hey, Mokuba-kun." She shouted back. The group turned around and saw the younger Kaiba heading in their direction. Saying their hellos, the group turned their attention back to the duel.

Mokuba pulled Shizuka to the side. "I missed you since yesterday." The younger Kaiba admitted. "I had a great time last night."

"I did as well, Mokuba-kun." The girl with the strawberry hair told her boyfriend. "Thank you for taking me there."

There was a comfortable silence for a while where they were content to just hold hands and watch the duel.

"By the way, who is Jounouchi-san dueling?" Mokuba asked. "He looks familiar but I can't place where I know him from."

"That's his social worker, Tranae Brittinia-san." She told him. "He was at the party a couple of days ago."

The lights went on as Mokuba remembered the guy. "So who's winning so far?"

Honda, from his peripheral vision, could see that Mokuba and Shizuka were acting pretty close, almost as if they were in a relationship. It was bittersweet for him to see that. On the one hand, he was sad to see that he didn't have a chance with Shizuka, who he liked more than a friend. On the other hand, at least he didn't have to worry about incurring his best friend's displeasure.

* * *

Brittinia drew his next card and smirked. "You're as good as the rumors say. I only have two cards in my hand. I daresay that I need a new hand if I am going to beat you and this card is the one to do it. Of course I am talking about my Card of Sanctity."

Brittinia activated his magic card. Both of the duelists drew cards until they had six cards in their hands. "The next item on the list is to push the duel in my favor. This card will do it, Final Countdown. This magic card takes 2000 life points to activate, but after twenty turns, if you don't bring my life points to zero, I automatically win the duel."

There was a gasp from the others as Brittinia activated his card. "Now Jou is in a bind." Ryou commented. "Jou has a time limit to defeat Tranae-san."

Anzu was confused. "But Tranae-san already is down to half his life points. How can that be bad?"

"Because Brittinia has already took out some of his best cards." Yuugi explained to his girlfriend. "He also has Gravekeeper's Servant on the field which will force Jou to discard the top card every time he attacks. Plus, I am guessing that he has other cards to destroy Jou's deck."

Brittinia took another card in his hand and placed in on the field. "This card will work wonders for me, Swords of Revealing Light." Giant holographic swords surrounded Jou and the blond gasped.

"Finally, I command my Vorse Raider to attack your Alligator Sword." The social worker announced in a loud voice. The hologram made quick work of Jou's monster as his life points went down and he had to discard the top card, Graceful Dice. With that, Brittinia ended his turn. (Score: Brittinia 4100, Katsuya 7400. Turns left: 19)

* * *

Kaiba and Sakura made it to the theme part bearing the CEO's name when Sakura had a question for him. "We are going to observe Jounouchi duel, right?"

"Is there a problem with that, Sakura?" he asked emotionlessly.

"But I thought he hated you. Why are you going to see him duel?" She had a point. What was the purpose of watching him duel if they had a mutual hate front? Was he really expecting the puppy to jump into his arms after having witnessed him duel? This infatuation of his was really causing Kaiba to have lapses of judgment.

"I'll worry about that should the question ever come up." He answered with finality. This subject was not going to be brought up again.

Sakura shrugged her shoulders and followed her boss.

The blond drew his next card and looked at his hand: Insect Queen, Release Restraint, Monster Reborn, Jinzo, Remove Trap, Axe Raider and Scapegoat. He closed his eyes for a while and tried to come up with a strategy. Right now, because of Swords of Revealing Light, he couldn't attack. Plus Final Countdown was activated, giving him 19 turns to win the duel before he automatically loses.

He really couldn't do anything this turn, so, after placing Scapegoat facedown on the field, he ended it. (Score: Katsuya 7400, Brittinia: 4100. Turns left: 18)

Yuugi shook his head at the events on the field. "Jou is trapped now. Every card he plays now has to count." Ryou nodded, agreeing with him.

Anzu, looking at Jou's countenance, decided to give him a confidence booster. "Come on, Jou. I know that you can come out of this. We all believe in you."

Within moments, there was a resounding cheer coming from outside the ring. Everyone was cheering him on and it made Jou smile. "Thanks, you guys." He blushed.

Brittinia smiled. "You have great friends, Katsuya-kun. This is the result of opening your heart to people. Perhaps someday you will find someone like that who will also love you in the way that you deserve. When you do, open your heart to that individual."

Jou's jaw descended when he heard this. Did his social worker know something about what was troubling him? Brittinia always had the uncanny sense to know when he was feeling down or extremely happy. In many ways, the blond considered the man his father. He didn't have this kind of bond with his own father. Perhaps this is the way that everything balances each other out.

"But for now, you are getting your ass handed to you by me." The long-haired man taunted.

"You wish!" the blond retorted in laughter.

Brittinia drew his next card and smiled. "For my next trick, I will play the magic card, Misfortune. With this, I can deduct your life points by half the attack points of one of your monsters. I choose your Thousand Dragon. You lose 1200 life points."

Jou's gasped as he saw his life point counter go down.

"Before I end my turn, I will play one card facedown and one card in facedown defense mode." With that, Brittinia ended his turn. (Score: Brittinia 4100, Katsuya 6200. Turns left: 17)

Jou drew his card. On his face now was a smirk that he could hardly contain. He let out a victorious whoop. "Here we go, Bri-kun. I activate the magic card I just drew, Mystical Space Typhoon, to take out your Swords of Revealing Light. Then I'll activate my other magic card, Remove Trap to take out your Robbin' Zombie."

Jou's cheering squad let out a whoop that rivaled his own when he played those cards. The swords disappeared and Thousand Dragon let out a howl of freedom.

Brittinia's eyes flashed over in shock. His stalling tactic was crushed. But he was prepared. All he had to wait for was his next turn. Then the duel would be his. All he could lose was 500 life points this turn.

"And now I will attack your facedown card." The blond announced.

Honda slapped his forehead. "Is he an idiot? Why isn't he attacking the Vorse Raider? It's in attack mode."

Yuugi shook his head. "I think Jou knows what he is doing." The teen with the multi-colored hair looked at Jou's side of the field. _"What is it that he has had facedown for so long?"_ he thought.

Discarding a card (Fusion Sage) to the graveyard, his Thousand Dragon prepared its attack. "And now, the moment you all have been waiting for. I activate my facedown card, Dragon's Rage."

Brittinia's eyes widened in astonishment.

"That's a brilliant strategy." Ryou commented from his position in the crowd. "By playing that card, he can now attack facedown cards and Tranae-san will lose the difference in life points." All of the others cheered him on as Thousand Dragon took a deep breath.

Thousand Dragon blew fire at the facedown card, which turned out to be another Needle Worm. The good news was that Brittinia lost 1600 life points in the attack. The bad news was that Jou had to discard another five cards to the graveyard.

"I activate my trap, Magic Thorn." Brittinia announced. "For every card that is sent to the graveyard via a monster's effect, you lose 500 life points. In total, this skirmish made you lose 2500 life points.

Jou sighed. There was nothing he could do except discard the five cards. He looked at them before sending them to the graveyard and moaned in displeasure when he saw his Red Eyes, along with Gearfreid the Swordsman, Magic Jammer, Change of Heart and Raigeki. With that, he ended his turn. (Score: Katsuya 3700, Brittinia 2500. Turns left: 16)

* * *

Just then, for some strange reason, his eye was attracted to some movement at the top of the ring. He saw two figures looking down at him duel but couldn't make them out at the distance from where he was. He felt as if he knew at least one of those figures, but from where and what capacity? Strange enough, one of the figures staring down made him feel at calm. But it wasn't important to think about why. Jounouchi Katsuya had a duel to win.

The social worker looked at Jou looking up at the top of the ring. Wondering what was so interesting there; he turned his head slightly and saw two figures. Because he was closer to them, he could make out one of them as Sakura Nicola. That would mean that the other figure was most likely Kaiba Seto. But why was he here? Nikki-chan, he could guess, got an alert that showed her that his card combinations were being played. But as for Kaiba, he had heard many stories about him through Katsuya-kun. There was no love lost here. It was a very hostile relationship that had no discernable beginning. The blond told him that Kaiba just started teasing him out of the blue, with no provocation at all. Somehow, two and two were making three. There was a missing factor in Brittinia's head about the dynamics of the relationship. Better to inquire again from Katsuya-kun's lips than to make erroneous assumptions.

* * *

Returning back to the duel, Brittinia drew his card and sighed. The Dragon's Rage threw him off. He was going to use the Needle Worm / Magic Thorn combo on his turn, then sacrifice both monsters for a more powerful one. But it seems things didn't work out the way that he wanted. This duel was not going to last another 16 turns.

The silver-haired man looked at his cards. He had another Monster Reincarnation, Card Destruction, Megamorph, Tri-Horned Dragon and Pot of Greed in his hand. Vorse Raider, Gravekeeper's Servant, and Magic Thorn are the field. He had one shot at this.

"I remember" Brittinia spoke, "an article written about your friend, Yuugi, after he won Duelist Kingdom and defeated Pegasus. In the article, Yuugi attributes the reason that he got the cards he needed at the right time to believing in something called the Heart of the Cards. I thought it was silly to think that, but then I met you. I have your file in my desk and it shows all of your life's history, including the duels you've won. I have a theory about the Heart of the Cards. I believe that it is the faith in yourself that you have against overwhelming odds and the faith in your friends that they have your back. From this, miracles are born." He smiled at his charge. "Katsuya-kun, I want you to know that I already consider you my son and I am very proud of you. What you accomplished is nothing short of amazing. No matter the outcome of this duel, I am very happy that you are my charge."

Jou felt the onset of tears in his eyes at the words that his social worker said to him. So, the feeling was mutual. He was in a good place, the blond realized. Even if Kaiba didn't return his love (should he confess), at least he was loved by all the people here (save the two figures). "I thought we were dueling, not sharing our feelings." He joked.

Brittinia smiled even brighter at Jou. "Okay then. Here's goes. I activate my Pot of Greed. I draw two cards." He looked at his new cards, Tremendous Fire and Spirit of the Harp.

"I activate Tremendous Fire. You lose 1000 life points and I lose 500." The life point counter dropped at the activation of the card. "Next I place two cards facedown." He placed his Megamorph and Monster Reincarnation facedown.

"After that, I play Card Destruction." Both duelists discarded their hand and drew cards equal to the amount they lost. Brittinia looked at his hand and saw another Gravekeeper's Servant and Gilasaurus in his hand.

"I special summon Gilasaurus with its special effect." Brittinia continued with his turn. "However, you are now allowed to special summon one monster card from the graveyard onto the field." Gilasaurus was summoned on the field and Jou summoned his Red Eyes Black Dragon.

"You played an excellent game today, Katsuya-kun." The braided man commended. "But the game is mine. I play Monster Reincarnation. This card allows me to send one card to the graveyard to regain one monster card in my hand." He discarded his Gravekeeper's Servant for his Tri-Horned Dragon.

"Next, I sacrifice Gilasaurus and Vorse Raider for my Tri-Horned Dragon." A large blue dragon with three great horns on its head appeared on the field with a loud roar. "Finally, I play Megamorph. Since my life points are less than yours, I can double the attack strength of my Tri-Horned Dragon. Its attack power is now 5700."

He looked at the two dragons on Jou's side of the field. From his sessions with the blond, he knew that Katsuya-kun had an affinity to the Red Eyes, so he decided not to attack it. "Tri-Horned Dragon, attack Thousand Dragon."

With a bright holographic flame, Brittinia's dragon laid low Jou's dragon and took out the rest of his life points. The rest of the holograms disappeared after Jounouchi's life points reached zero.

* * *

Yuugi and the group were heading to the arena's exit when they ran into Kaiba and his personal assistant. Honda growled at Kaiba and looked at him with challenging eyes. "What are you doing here, Kaiba?" he threatened. "Don't you bother enough Jou at school?"

Kaiba smirked at Honda. "Well, I'm here because I own the place." He mocked. "And if you throw a little fit here, I will have to tell security not to let you in this place."

Honda's rage was barely kept in check. Yuugi and Ryou had to calm him down.

Mokuba went to his brother and Shizuka followed hesitantly. "Nii-sama, what are you and Sakura-san doing here?" He asked. "I thought you were going to be in the office all day."

"I need the improvements list and the other forms you have been working on." The CEO responded. Sakura looked at her boss and snickered. Kaiba looked at her. "What is so funny?"

"You are very quick-witted at times, Boss." The long-haired assistant smiled. She then looked at Mokuba and his friends. "So these are your friends, Mokuba-kun?"

"Yeah, Sakura-san! Allow me to introduce you them." He pointed them out as he introduced them. "That's Yuugi-san, Anzu-san, Honda-san, and Ryou-san." Then he looked at his girlfriend and smiled. She smiled back. "This is Shizuka, my girlfriend. Shizuka, this is Sakura-san, Nii-sama's personal assistant and acting Vice President."

After the two women shook hands, Sakura gave a saucy wink to Mokuba, which caused him to blush.

Kaiba, aware how awkward this was going to become, cleared his throat. "Sakura, Mokuba, and Shizuka, could you please come with me? I would like to talk to you away from prying ears." He looked at Honda as if to prove his point.

Honda was boiling mad. "If you got something to say to Shizuka-chan, then you can say it in front of all of us."

Kaiba kept his cool. "It has nothing to do with you." Then a funny thought came to his head. "Are you the Mutt Pro Tempore?"

The sharkhead teen was confused for a moment. Kaiba sneered at his confusion. "Are you the stand-in for the mutt when he isn't here to fulfill his duties as the mutt?"

Kaiba started to walk away, which told Mokuba, Shizuka and Sakura that it was time to go. Honda calmed down considerably after the blue-eyed teen left.

"Man, who does that guy think he is?" He asked rhetorically.

* * *

Kaiba led Sakura, Mokuba, and Shizuka to one of the benches. He looked at his personal assistant. "Meet me at the administration board in a half hour." She nodded and left her own way.

The blue-eyed teen then looked at Shizuka. "I am going to say this." He began. "I am sure that you have heard some horrible stories about me. I am also sure about how I and your brother on not on good terms. But, in respect of my brother and yours relationship, I will not bother Jounouchi."

Shizuka had heard of some things from Katsuya about how he went to school with the unfeeling bastard Kaiba, how he provoked him to anger with mutt comments, and how he picked on him for no reason. Somehow, she could not equate the cold, unfeeling bastard that Katsu-chan made him out to be with the teen confessing that he would not bother his brother again. But if he was sincere about this, then how could she have any objection.

"I'm not the one you should be telling that to." The strawberry haired lass told the CEO. "It's Katsu-chan."

Kaiba nodded once in Shizuka's direction and was off to find Jounouchi, leaving a confused girl to wonder why Kaiba would choose now to make amends and what was the real motivating force behind it.

* * *

Brittinia got Jounouchi some food and they sat down for the session. "Don't feel bad about losing. At least you came second out of two."

Jou's jaw dropped as the social worker laughed at him. "I won't lose next time." With that, he joined the man in laughter.

As soon as they calmed down, they talked about the things that happened to Jou during the week, which including when he found out about Shizuka's relationship with Mokuba and the failed date with Mai. He did not, however, tell his social worker about the rising feelings he felt about a certain CEO.

Brittinia listened intently to his charge, especially the part about the date. But yet, he had taken too many psychology classes to know that Jou wasn't telling the whole story. So he decided to ask him a couple of question.

"So, Katsuya-kun, why did you go on the date with Mai-san?" he asked.

Jounouchi was taken aback with the question. He thought that Brittinia would ask how he felt about the event. "I guess I saw my friends making out and felt as if I could find a kindred soul in Mai. So I guess I just asked her out to see if she felt the same."

Brittinia caught nervous movement from Jou's hands. He was leaving something out. "You can't force love Jounouchi." He told his charge. "It has to be mutual; otherwise, it could be destructive." He was reminded of the conversation that he had with Jou at the party about having erotic dreams with the one he hated. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that he froze a bit when he saw Kaiba at the duel. The red-eyed man would find out.

"So, you kissed her and you didn't feel that spark." The social worker inquired. Receiving a nod from Jou, he continued. "That must mean that you felt something in that dream you were telling me about at the party that you didn't feel with Mai-san."

Brittinia was dead-on. "Maybe I'm suppose to give it time." Jou replied.

"But if you are already judging by a standard, it would be pretty difficult to abolish that standard." The long-haired man supplied. "Perhaps you are trying too hard to abolish that standard that you are missing the joy that you could be having with that person in your dreams."

"But even if I did like that person, that person doesn't like me."

Brittinia was quite aware that Jou was using the word 'person' over and over. If it was a woman, then he would have not been using that word but the pronoun 'she'. Maybe, he was connecting the dots right and Jounouchi was gay. There was a way to find out. He would surreptitiously drop words that would lead to that conclusion. If he doesn't deny it outright, then Brittinia would be right in assuming that Katsuya was undergoing a sexual identity crisis.

"How are you so sure that he doesn't like you?" Brittinia started the subterfuge.

"Well, it all started when we met in high school." Jou took the bait. "We were both freshman at the time and I was looking for some new friends besides Honda, of course. I saw this kid sitting on a bench by himself and I decided that I would be his friend."

"So, I am guessing that he wasn't kind to you when you wanted to be his friend." The social worker asked.

"Not at all!" Jou spat. "He called me horrible names when I did nothing to him."

"Perhaps he wasn't having a good day."

"I thought that too, Bri-kun. But I tried for several days and he still wouldn't budge. That's when it all started."

Brittinia realized that Katsuya-kun was very comfortable talking about the person with a gendered pronoun. Now would be the final test. He would drop Kaiba's name. "And you and Kaiba were at each other's throats ever since."

"Yeah!" Jou agreed, not realizing that his secret was out now. "And that's how it was until Battle City when something happened the day when Yuugi finally asked Anzu out. I have been having dreams about Kaiba in very sexual …" Now Jou caught on. "Did I admit that I have been having dreams about Kaiba?"

Brittinia nodded in the affirmative. "Katsuya-kun, are you gay?"

Jounouchi Katsuya looked his social worker in the eye. Tears formed but he wouldn't let them fall. He nodded slowly, his eyes never leaving the man he considered to be his father. "Are you disgusted with me?"

"Katsuya-kun, you're my kid. Whether you're gay or not doesn't matter to me. What matters to me is your happiness. If you are denying your happiness, it makes me sad."

"What do I do?" he asked.

"Well, you've admitted to yourself that you are gay. Perhaps, when you are more comfortable with the idea, then you can admit it to your friends. Whether they hate you or not, I promise you will feel better with that out of the way. Now I won't tell you to admit your feelings to Kaiba, but it might be something to think about. And if he should reject your feelings, then at least a weight will be off your shoulders."

Jounouchi could understand Brittinia's sage advice. He hugged the man who acted like a father to him. "Thanks so much."

* * *

Kaiba was walking around the park. Not that he was looking for someone in particular, he just liked the idea that the ground he was stepping on was his. His feet led him to an isolated park bench overlooking a beautiful hill range. But something on the bench caught his attention, or rather someone. It was Jounouchi and he was looking at the scenery. The blue-eyed teen wanted to talk to him about their younger siblings' relationship.

"Jounouchi!" He called out.

As Jounouchi turned around to see who called his name, he realized that it was Kaiba, the guy that he was talking about not a few minutes ago. A blush came to his face as he turned around to face the other direction. "What do you want, Kaiba?" Annoyance crept out of his voice.

"We need to talk." Kaiba could not believe what he was doing as he sat down with his supposed worst enemy. Remembering that it was all for Mokuba, he took a deep breath and began again. "We need to talk about out Mokuba and Shizuka's relationship."

At the mention of his sister, he turned around to stare at the beautiful face that haunted his dreams. "What is it?" he answered softly.

Kaiba was surprised at the response he got from the normal fiery teen. There was an unusual softness on his face. Normally, because of the way that he teased the blond, his face became more angular. Now he could see the lines disappear and it made him attractive. However, he continued. "Since they are going out, I feel as if we should not let our own feelings interfere with their relationship. So, I am proposing that we just call a truce to our rivalry."

Jou was shocked. Kaiba, the Kaiba Seto, willingly came to him to bury the hatchet. Perhaps this was the start of how he could at least start a friendship with him. "I would like that." For some strange reason, he felt himself inching towards Kaiba on the bench.

"Truce?" Kaiba held out an elegant hand. Jou only stared at it for a while before grabbing it and shaking it with his own calloused ones.

When their hands met, there was something like an electrical charge that flowed through them. The shake lasted for a second, but neither let go of the other's hand, content with only staring at it. Their hands molded together, as if it were made for each other.

Kaiba felt himself inching towards Jounouchi. His sapphire eyes locked on to amber ones. Suddenly, he could see that the space between his face and the blond's face was shrinking. This was reminiscent of the dreams he has been having.

Jounouchi could feel his warm breath tickling his lips. Why were they this close when they just agreed to a truce?

Then all was still as their lips met. It was hesitant, shy and unsure of itself, but the spark was there. The kiss was innocent, but it started to increase in passion. And then it was over.

Seto's eyes brimmed with passion. Reality superseded dreams as the kiss with the blond was more intense than anything he ever felt.

Katsuya felt a tingly feeling throughout his whole body. He couldn't believe what was happening. Seto wasn't calling him a fag or anything like that.

But this was happening way too fast. He just confessed to his social worker that he was gay when he barely understood it himself. He needed some time. "This is happening too fast." Katsuya shot up and ran, ignoring Kaiba asking him to wait.

He needed to think about what is happening.

* * *

For those who have faithfully waited for the next chapter, well, here it is. Thank you for being patient and for not knowing where I live. If you did, I could be in big trouble. :) You guys would hold me captive until I finished the story and that's bad. I'll do my best to update as soon as possible. Notice how I'm not making any promises. Till next time.

Sparky out


	6. A Song of Storm and Fire

Please excuse the lateness of this chapter. I know that it has been two years since I updated. There just has been many things going on in my life that have needed my full attention. I've been working two jobs, moved into a new house, been taking care of my yaoi-freak girlfriend, and aiming for my masters. If you've been reading my other stories then you know that I was in a car accident a year ago that left me bedridden for three months. So, I've been also going through some painful rehabilitation in learning how to walk again. I know you guys have been clamoring for the next chapter. All I can say is "Be patient with me." I have not forgotten this. I will finish this. With that done, I now return you to your regularly scheduled fanfic. It's a long chapter. Enjoy

**Chapter Six: A Song of Storm and Fire

* * *

**Katsuya ran. There was no particular reason for it. He just ran. What started as an uneasy truce turned into a fierce and hot kiss.

He couldn't believe it. He just admitted to both himself and his social worker that he preferred guys to girls. He knew that he was kinda, sorta, maybe attracted to Kaiba. And then, when Kaiba, whose appearance just qualified for the worst timing ever award, came to bury the hatchet for the sake of their younger siblings' relationship, Katsuya kissed him. He didn't like what was happening to him.

That's not to say that he didn't enjoy the kiss. He just didn't like not having control of it. It felt like his body was moving without orders from his brain. Why was that?

He needed to talk to someone... and fast.

Seto, on the other hand, was utterly confused. He knew that he liked Jounouchi. In fact, that was his first kiss (that doesn't include those dream kisses) ... if he were one to treasure something like that. And something inside of him wanted him to treasure it. It was with Jounouchi after all. He knew that there was some sort of reaction as Seto felt the blond kissing back.

As much as he loved the kiss (and he did love that kiss), he didn't want to send the blond the wrong message. Scratch that. Seto didn't want to pursue him at this moment. They have been antagonists for so long. To change from antagonist straight to lovers would ... to be honest, he didn't know what it would do. What if Jounouchi wasn't gay? He could take what he has to the press. Seto could deny it. But just the mention of the **G word **could have reverberations well into the future. The CEO was sure that he could weather the storm.

There was a question of whether Jounouchi was gay but not interested in him. If that was the case, he seriously would regret the former animosity between them. But, then again, they could work out something now that Mokuba and Jounouchi's sister were going out.

There was a slim possibility that Jounouchi was interested in him. But if that were true, why would he run? That is why he didn't want to kiss him now.

Seto needed some time to think things through before proceeding. He never wanted anyone in a romantic way before and that kiss, though unexpected and delicious, gave him something he never had.... hope for a relationship.

The myriad of possibilities swarmed about in Seto's head. Rather than think about it at this time, he decided to head back to his office. Calling his vice-president on his cell phone, he told her that he was heading back and to meet him there. The CEO decided to walk back to KaibaCorp to dwell on the Jounouchi matter.

* * *

Katsuya walked around, looking for the gang. He had calmed down considerably after that kiss. Although, every once in a while, he unconsciously put his finger on his lips. He could still feel the pressure that Kaiba's lips. He could also still feel the heat from Kaiba. It was all too confusing.

Katsuya found the gang at the arcade portion of Kaibaland. It seems that Anzu and Bri-kun were playing Dance, Dance Revolution. The rest of the gang were standing around the machine watching the two of them hit the steps at the correct time. It seemed as if they were both like water or something. Graceful didn't even cover it. It seems, the blond realized, that the gang took to his social worker not like an adult but someone who was like a friend. It warmed his heart and thanked whatever power that allowed the silver-braided man to be his social worker profusely. Taking a deep breath so as not to reveal the inner turmoil inside of him, Katsuya walked over to the gang.

Honda was the first to noticed his best friend. "Hey, man, where the hell have you been?"

"Oh, I was just talking with Kaiba." He said, congratulating himself on not being shaky when he said that.

"What the hell were you doing with that jerk?" was the response that Honda returned. Yuugi also turned around, curious as to why the two of them were talking. "Yeah, Jou-kun. Why were you talking with Kaiba?"

Mokuba looked at Katsuya. What did he and his brother discuss? Did it have something to do with him and Shizuka? Were they going to prevent them from seeing each other or have they both accepted their relationship? Seto already said that he was going to stop bothering Jounouchi-san.

"We decided that we were calling a truce." Katsuya told everyone.

Brittinia, after hearing that, turned around just a bit to lose his concentration on the game. He missed a step and caused him to lose the game against Anzu. She cheered in victory and hugged her boyfriend. The silver-braided adult, gracious in defeat, smiled at the dancer. "Good job, Anzu-san."

He then walked towards Katsuya. The blond then unconsciously put his finger on his lips. Brittinia noticed that and cocked his head in puzzlement. "So you and Kaiba-san buried the hatchet?" he asked.

Katsuya smiled. "Yeah. I mean, it was getting old."

Yuugi smiled at him. "I am glad for you, Jou-kun. It's good to see that you two will finally get along."

"Well, I wouldn't go that far." With that joke, the surprise diffused. "It's just like a ceasefire." Everyone just started laughing. It was just the thing that the two would do.

* * *

The day ended much sooner than anyone wanted. Yuugi decided that he would walk Anzu home. Mokuba called a chauffeur from his brother's company to take Shizuka to her and Jounouchi's apartment. Honda took the bus back to his house. That left Jounouchi and Brittinia. The silver-braided social worker offered to take the blond home.

Inside Bri-kun's red and black 4x4, Katsuya recounted what happened after their talk, which wasn't much. The blond, however, did not mention the kiss but kept touching his lips. "So we talked about allowing Shi-chan and Mokuba-san to see each other and calling an end to our fighting. I'm sort of glad. It was sort of childish."

"When I was a child, I spake like a child, I understood like a child, I thought like a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things." Brittinia quoted. "It seems like you have put away something that was holding you back."

"That was very profound, Bri-kun." Katsuya smirked. "Are you waxing poetic?"

Brittinia ignored that and continued. "Did anything else happened?"

"Why would you think that?"

"You keep touching your lips." The man noted. Katsuya blushed.

"You aren't going to be mad at me?" He asked, twiddling his fingers.

"You already confessed to me about your preferences and I didn't get mad."

"Well," the blond began, hesitation in his voice. "After we called a truce, we shook hands on it. When I touched his hand, there was something that I couldn't describe. It was like my body got hot all of a sudden. I remember it feeling wonderful. I mean, not even three days ago, I hated that guy. But now this, and I don't know."

"You felt something when he held your hand. Was it different from Mai-san?"

"Absolutely. With Mai, it was like if I was holding a friend's hand. But when I held Kaiba's hand in my own...." He paused, trying to find the right word for it. "I don't know. It was just amazing."

"Something else happened, didn't it." It was less a question and more of a statement.

"Well, it was like I wasn't in my body. I felt myself moving closer to him and staring into his eyes. It was so blue." He sighed, knowing that the climax of the story was coming. "Before I realized it, I kissed him... or he kissed me. There was a bunch of kissing involved. It was nothing like my dreams."

"I see." His social worker responded. "How did it feel?"

"Intense... It's not my first kiss, but it felt like the whole world disappeared and it was just the two of us."

"So you liked it. Is there a problem with that?"

"I didn't want to kiss him now." The blond noticed that he seemed to be sighing much as of late. "I just gotten used to the fact that I may like him and this happens. I am such an idiot."

"Why do you say that?"

"I'm 16 years old, Bri-kun. I don't have any idea..." He tapered off on that thought.

"About what?"

Katsuya turned away, looking outside the window of the car, watching everything pass by him. Everyone seemed to be moving about without a care to his dilemma. He envied that. He didn't want to be encumbered with this. He wanted his relationship to Kaiba, as strange as it was, to remain static. If Kaiba wanted to fight, it made things so much easier. He was so used to it that now the destruction of that threatened the axis of his entire thought process. "You're married, right?" He asked, going off topic.

"I am." His social worker responded. "I have a wife and two daughters."

"How is it that you know you love your wife?"

"Love isn't something you can analyze. It's something you feel. You know it instinctively. The heart doesn't lie." Brittinia turned his attention to his charge... well as much as he could while still paying attention to the road. "Why did you change the topic? What don't you have an idea about?"

Katsuya blushed profusely. "Sex." He whispered.

He couldn't help but chuckle. "I can't help you there. I have no idea how sex between two men works but, obviously, there is the one who gives and the one who receives."

"What is my role?" He wondered whether or not he would be the bottom or the top in a relationship.

"Katsuya-kun, the last thing that you should worry about is sex." The silver-braided man told him. "You should, however, decide whether or not you wish to pursue this relationship with Kaiba-san. One day, just pull him aside and see if he wants a relationship. If he says yes, then you can move on from there. If he says no, then at least that will be one albatross you can remove from your neck."

"I'm nervous." Katsuya told him in all honesty. "I'm nervous if he says yes and I'm nervous if he says no. And if he says yes, what sort of relationship will I have with him."

The car stopped, reaching Katsuya's apartment complex. However, the blond made no motion to leave, expecting an answer from the person he considered his father. He realized what stopped him from pursuing a relationship with Kaiba, fear. He was afraid of the change that it would bring. "But... about being gay..." He didn't know how to finish that sentence and stopped there. Katsuya was afraid of being gay and what that entailed.

"Gay rights has progressed since I was your age. In the 1960, it was thought to be a mental disease to be homosexual. No one talked about it. Gays and lesbians were persecuted by both the scientific community and the religious community. It wasn't until the 1970s that homosexuality was taken out of the DSM. From there, the media started to portray gay characters... albeit in a extremely flamboyant manner. It forced the public to acknowledge openly their existence. That, coupled with the gay pride movement, helped make homosexuality more accepted. There have been gay politicians and sports players. There are still some strides that have to be made. But understand this, Katsuya-kun, being gay will virtually become a non-issue someday."

"Why?"

"The younger generation is going to grow up maybe knowing a gay person and become their friend, co-worker, or idol or maybe realize that they like the same gender. It's not going to bother them."

"So am I a gay man? Should I be marching in those parades?" Katsuya asked with a smirk on his face.

"You shouldn't let liking men to define you, _'I'm gay' or 'I'm straight'_. I think you should think that whomever you like, man or woman, doesn't change who you are."

Katsuya sort of understood what his social worker was saying. He shouldn't think of himself as gay, per se. He should acknowledge that he liked Kaiba, who happened to be a guy. "But what about relationships with others? How should I handle that?" the blond asked.

"If you don't mind, allow me to philosophize for a bit." Brittinia smiled. "If I do that, then you'll understand something, hopefully." He took a deep breath and began. "Aristotle believe that there were three types of relationships: utility, pleasure and complete. A utility relationship is one of mutual benefit, regardless of whether or not those two people enjoy it. A pleasure relationship is just the opposite; it's one of mutual enjoyment regardless if those people gain anything out of it. Finally, there is a complete relationship. It contains both utility and pleasure relationships but does not exist because of them."

Katsuya knew he was being told a "facts of life" lesson. It sure as hell beat the "Birds and the Bees" discussion with his real father, which went into graphic detail about sticking what in where and doing this to that. He listened to the social worker.

"A utility relationship is one of choice and reason." Brittinia continued. "The two of you choose to have this relationship and you both gain something out of it. Let's take you and Kaiba-san for example. For the sake of argument, let's say that in your relationship, you gain wealth and social status and Kaiba-san gains normality and stability. Whether or not both of you enjoy the relationship is irrelevant."

"Aside for the fact that I don't care about his money and stuff, what's so bad about a utility friendship?" He asked.

"Because the two of you just give the other what they need, it essentially boils down to robotics. There is no spark that makes it worthwhile. Have you ever seen couples who stay together just because it's convenient? That's utility." The social worker turned to Katsuya. "I know you, Katsuya-kun. You have a powerful fire about you. You would never like a relationship like that."

Katsuya could only nod. A utility relationship did sound boring. He didn't mind putting in something towards a relationship with anyone, especially Kaiba. But he knew he was no robot. He was a free spirit. Hopefully, should he pursue a relationship with Kaiba, he would appreciate that.

"What about pleasure relationships?"

"A pleasure relationship is one of passion and emotion. It's dark, instinctual, animalistic. It is something that hormones dictates. It will make the two of you wild, sexual beings. It will be all about the sex, however that works out for you. However, the downside to that is that when that spark, that passion is gone, there is nothing left. Passion is a fire that can be beneficial when used rightly. But, if the fire consumes everything, you are left with a burnt husk. Erotic love cannot survive on passion alone."

Katsuya didn't want that either. Obviously, he didn't want a stoic Kaiba as a boyfriend. But now, after the discussion on pleasure relationships, he didn't want a Kaiba that was all about sex. "So you are saying that the best relationship is a complete one."

"That's right. A complete relationship transcends both passion and reason, utility and pleasure. It is both of those things and so much more. It does not exist solely on reason and neither does it exist solely on passion. A complete relationship can even cause people to deny something that they like for the sake of the other. They are willing to sacrifice for each other and they love each other for their own sake, not because they gain something out of it or they find the other's company pleasurable." Brittinia put a fatherly hand on Katsuya's head. "Aim for a complete relationship, Katsuya-kun. Everything else, after that, will fall into place. Even should you never have sex, you'll be happy."

Katsuya smiled brilliantly at the man who took many roles in his life: social worker, friend, mentor and father. He was lucky that he had this guy in his life. The man who gave him life... screw him. He could rot in hell for all he cared. But Tranae Brittinia, this guy was the father-figure he desperately needed. "I think I understand a bit of what you are saying."

"Like I said before, you should tell your friends and your sister about your feelings towards Kaiba-san. You'll feel better when you do. Trust me. Remember what I always told you: Think, decide, then act on it."

Katsuya shook the social worker's hand and exited the car. His heart felt so much lighter. Waving goodbye to the car, the blond walked to the door that led inside the complex where he lived.

Tranae Brittinia drove towards KaibaCorp and parked outside the street. There was something that he needed to do.

* * *

Sakura Nicola was doing some paperwork on a future merger when her intercom buzzed. The front desk receptionist called her and told her that a man, Tranae Brittinia, wanted to see her. She told the person on the other line to let him come to her office. With that conversation over, she finished up her paperwork. She looked around and saw that things were a bit out of order. This merger was really turning out to be a hassle but it would be worth it to bring in a half billion in revenue.

The door opened and in came a man in a casual t-shirt, jeans and silver braids for hair. That was her husband. Before she could give an invitation, he sat down at the other side of the desk. "What brings you here, Bri-kun?" There was a weary tone to her voice.

"I need to speak with Kaiba-san." He told her.

"Kaiba? But why?"

Brittinia was always honest with his wife and that didn't change now. "I need to talk to him about a kid of mine."

"A Jounouchi Katsuya-san?" She responded, knowing something of what was happening.

"How did you know?" He asked.

She sighed. Nicola knew that if he told her husband, she would be betraying her boss's confidence. That could land her out on the street and could become blackballed. She decided to respond as obliquely as possible. "Let's just say that the dynamics between those two has changed significantly."

He didn't understand where she was getting at, but that wasn't the point. "May I speak with him?"

"Well, two things. One, he hasn't come back from KaibaLand. Two, he probably would throw you out before you even spoke two words."

"I'll take that risk. Can you arrange something?"

Nicola put a hand on her head and sighed. "Why are you going to such lengths for a foster child? I mean, he isn't your only case but he is the one to whom you invest so much of your time and attention."

Brittinia chuckled lightly. "Because, as strange as it sounds, I consider Katsuya-kun not just another kid, but my kid, a kid just as if he were born to us like Reina and Andrea." He said, mentioning his name alongside their daughters.

Nicola's eyes softened. "I allow you to get into his office. Make your point fast or else we both could get in trouble." He nodded and the two of them headed to Kaiba's office.

* * *

Kaiba Seto, meanwhile, just arrived at his company, ready to finish up the work that he was doing before the field trip to Kaibaland. His walk back gave him some time to think. He realized what was holding him back from pursuing this relationship, his demeanor. He prided himself on controlling every aspect of his life. He controlled his day, his company and his feelings. Nothing in Kaiba's world was askew. Along came this ... the only word that describes is crush ... and now his world is turned on its axis, and he was glad. But Seto was still unwilling to lose control, because that would be the result of him pursuing a relationship with Jounouchi. He wouldn't be able to control the blond or himself and the thought was both a relief and a frightening prospect. The worst thing that came to mind was "what would his brother think"? His brother had come to respect him as a loving, yet domineering figure. He knew the little scamp idolized him. Would he continue to do so if he turned out to like men?

As he made his way to the office, Seto was still on the fence about what to do about the Jounouchi situation. As he opened the door to his office, he noticed a familiar figure leaning against his desk. From that moment, all thoughts of his dilemma went out the window and an anger washed over him. "Any last words as I call security." He deadpanned as he pulled out his cell phone. He was about to hit a memory dial number when that figure spoke.

"Hear me out before you do that. I wish to talk to you about Jounouchi Katsuya."

Seto stopped. He certainly didn't expect that. He took a closer look at the figure and realized it that guy that Jounouchi was dueling at Kaibaland. "Who are you and how do you know Jounouchi?"

"My name is Tranae Brittinia. I am his social worker." The figure introduced himself.

Seto was confused on several levels. He didn't know that Jounouchi had a social worker. That would mean that his parents weren't able to provide for him. Was this guy some sort of messenger for the blond? Was he trying to achieve his own agenda? What was going on? "Did he send you here?" The CEO spat.

"He doesn't know that I'm here. I've come out of my own will."

"What is this about Jounouchi?" Seto asked.

"What are you planning to do?"

"Excuse me?" The social worker wasn't being clear to Seto and it bugged him.

"I know about the kiss."

Seto was stunned. He didn't tell anyone about the kiss: Not Mokuba, not Sakura. Yet this guy knew. That could only mean that Jounouchi told him. But why? What did this mean? But, then the social worker's question made sense. Why else would he asked what was Seto's plan! He put his cell phone away.

"That's none of your business." He was being defensive. Seto realized that. But the idea that there was hope for him yet unnerved him.

"Perhaps." The silver-braided man sighed. "But there seems to be a storm about you. You are conflicted."

"Please stop playing psychoanalyst on me." Kaiba retorted

"I can't tell you what to do. But, if I am reading you correctly, you are probably considering the possibility of a relationship."

"And how do you know that?"

"Just a feeling." The silver-braided man turned away from Seto, not wanting to face him. "I really feel bad going behind my kid's back. But, I feel that he will not be able to progress if he continues to distress over this. You may not know this but his father died about two months ago. He drank himself to death... literally. When he died, his case came to my office. No one wanted a teenager for 2 years and group homes were out of the question so we helped him emancipate himself. He was plagued by the horrors of that man, thinking that he would grow up to be like him. Katsuya-kun has made some progress of getting away from the shadow of his father due in part to his own natural resilience, his friends, and his sister. However, now this happens and it changes the dynamics in his life."

"You think he's the only one who's had a tough life?" Seto asked, indignant that this man came to him with the sob story of Jounouchi.

"Absolutely not, Kaiba-san. I know the person who handled your case file. In the fifteen years that I worked at the Ministry of Social Services, I have never seen anyone fight so aggressively for custody, much less a fourteen-year-old both who was also fighting to be emanicipated."

"If you put your mind to it, anything is possible." Seto said, a certain calmness honeyed his voice. "When I put my chips in a pile, I expect to win. I don't aim to lose."

"And it worked. The ministry acquiesced. My boss was amazed at the way that you handled yourself. I know my colleague makes his usual visits once a month and he is still surprised with the developmental growth of Mokuba-san. You've really proved yourself."

"You didn't come all this way to flatter me." Seto retorted, wanting the social worker to get to his point.

"All business, I see. Fine." The silver-braided man took out a piece of paper and swiped a pen from his desk. He scribbled something quickly and handed the piece of paper to Seto. "This is Katsuya-kun's number. I cannot tell you how to handle this situation and I am sure that Katsuya-kun would respect whatever decision you make. However, I do ask that you do not string him along. Think about it, long and hard, then call him. You two should decide what is best for you."

"What happens when he realizes that you gave me his number?"

"I doubt that it will come to that. If anything, he'll think that Mokuba-san gave you the number. Even if he does, I hope that he would understand that I am doing this for his own benefit, to allow him to come face to face with what he needs to do in order to progress. Either way allows him to continue but stagnation will call him to falter."

Seto pocketed the paper. "Why are you doing this?"

"I want to help my kid. He was distressed today after confessing to me what happened. He thought that I would hate him because of this. That couldn't be further from the truth." The social worker sighed. "I don't want to play match-maker for him. That's not my intention. I just want him to be happy, however he determines that definition to be. I can't imagine what you must be feeling. Obviously, it is much more than Katsuya-kun as you also have your public image to maintain. I understand that you have a multi-billion dollar company and that your reputation could be threatened by this. However, do know that I am sure that Katsuya-kun will understand whatever you decide if you are totally honest with him." The social worker moved towards the door. "Thank you for your time, Kaiba-san."

Seto turned to the social worker. "What would you have me do?"

"Think, decide, then act on it." With that, Tranae Brittinia walked out of the office and headed to the elevator. He hit the down button on the control panel. The door opened, he went through and the door closed behind him.

After that unexpected encounter, he went to his desk and hit the intercom button. It buzzed, signaling that the connection has been made. "Sakura, my office, now." The command was terse. Seto knew that Sakura would be here immediately.

No less than thirty seconds passed when she came into his office. In her hands was a box, presumably packed with her belongings. She put the box down and faced Seto, a somber look in her green eyes.

"You let him in, didn't you?" It wasn't a question. It was a statement. They both knew the answer.

"Yes." She didn't bother to explain it away. She told him the truth. "He came to my office and asked to set up a meeting with you. When I asked what this was about, he told me that it was concerning a kid of his. He didn't specify but based on the knowledge I already had, I concluded that this had something to do with that guy that Brittinia was dueling, Jounouchi Katsuya-san. "

"And then, you allowed him to come into my office, even knowing that I would find out about your involvement and possibly fire you."

"Yes. He wanted to talk to you about him. I don't know what his intentions were, but I do know that he's a very noble man. He sees something wrong or something should be done and he deals with it. I trust him completely."

"He's your husband, huh." Seto deduced. "Why don't you two have the same last name or something?"

"It's a strange issue, to say the least. But I doubt that you have an interest in it."

Seto motioned towards a chair next to his desk. "Sit." Sakura did so. "Do you know what's going to happen to you?"

His vice-president's eyes were downcast. "I don't know."

Seto moved across the desk and sat in his own seat. There was an air of tension with this scene. It showed that Seto had the power and Sakura didn't. It felt as if there were invisible wires that surrounded the woman, making her feel as if something bad was going to happen. And she knew that if he decided to let her go, it was warranted. She took a big risk allowing her husband to make the meeting. She would accept the punishment as an adult.

"You needn't tender your resignation." Seto told her. All of a sudden, the tension diffused, turning into ether. "Actually, that talk helped me with my own feelings. However, this had better be the last time that this happens."

Sakura nodded. She wanted to say _thank you_ but it seemed as if Seto would reject it, saying that _he didn't want her thanks_ or _she was too important to let go at this time_. She also didn't want to rise from her chair as she didn't know if he was going to say something else. "What would you have me do now, sir?" She asked.

Seto sighed and leaned back into his chair. "You do realized that..."

"This conversation never leads the room." Sakura finished for him. Seto nodded

"After I gave you orders to meet me at the administration room, I talked with Jounouchi's sister. I explained that I would not interfere with her and my brother's relationship. Then I went to find Jounouchi. I told him what I told his sister and that I wanted to call a truce. We shook on it and ..." Seto paused for about a space, contemplating what had transpired.

"I kissed him."

Sakura was shocked. She would have never thought that Seto would make such a bold move. He would have thought that the other boy would have made the first move but she supposed wrong. "Why?"

"I can't answer that myself. It just seemed like that scene required a kiss to end it. And truth be told, I enjoyed it."

"And now?"

"After the kiss ended, he ran away. I was confused. It wasn't the message I wanted to send him. I thought that he didn't like me. But then, if he didn't, why did he kiss back? I found no satisfactory answer."

"So you walked back to the office to sort your feelings."

"I realized that I was afraid of losing control. Sakura, I prided myself on being the boss and having my entire life in my hands, an immovable rock in a rushing river. Then, along comes that blond and suddenly, I wanted to let go and allow the currents to take me wherever."

"You shouldn't think of it as losing control." Sakura told him in a motherly fashion. "In fact, you should even think of control. That's not what a relationship is about, Seto-san." She felt a bit confident using his given name now that she knew that she wasn't in danger of being fired.

"Then the conversation with your husband put things in perspective."

"So, you've decided?" She asked, curious to know.

"What would you do in my situation?"

Sakura smiled. "You shouldn't think about what I would do or what anyone else but you would do in this situation. If you do, you lose your identity. Then, it's not you who makes the decision based on your own needs, wants, and abilities but someone else."

Seto smirked. "These are certainly uncharted waters."

Sakura Nicola rose from her seat. "Uncharted waters is your specialty. You turned a multi-million dollar military weapons company into a gaming industry all on your own. The experts on the media market watch always said that this was a bad move and that the company would go under but you proved them wrong. You turned this company into a behemoth that is the single largest employer in Domino and one of the top three employers in the country. This relationship business is nothing. You'll succeed in this like with every other endeavor."

Seto looked at the woman that served as his vice-president and personal secretary. She was right. "I think I'll call him tonight."

Sakura nodded. "So, now what?"

"Go home, Sakura. I want you bright and early tomorrow."

She winked saucily at Seto. "Of course, Seto-kun." She picked up the box with her belongings and exited his office.

Seto gathered his stuff and prepared to go home as well. He was going to use the number that he got from the social worker tonight.

* * *

Katsuya took out his keys as he was heading towards his door. Inserting the correct key into the lock engaged the tumblers which allowed the door to unlock. He walked through the door. He noticed that the Kaiba mat was gone. Shizu-chan must have put it somewhere. Did that mean that Mokuba-san was here? He walked towards the living area and saw her sister sitting on the couch, watching television. She turned around and greeted her brother. Katsuya reciprocated.

"Is Mokuba-san here?" Katsuya asked.

"Well, he did walk me back to the apartment. Then he saw the mat again and there was a look in his eye. So I put it in the closet. Onii-chan, can we get a new welcome mat?"

Without realizing anything, he agreed to what she wanted. He didn't care about the mat. He had other things on his mind. He was trying to find the right words to say to his sister. He wasn't the word smith in the group. He was the heart. He took a deep breath. "I need to talk to you about something important."

Shizuka turned to look at her brother. Something inside her told her that this was going to be an important conversation. She nodded and motioned for her brother to sit down and join her. He did so and took her hand. Shizuka couldn't help the nervousness that washed over her. She just felt that whatever Katsu-chan was going to say was going to change their dynamics.

"Before I tell you what I am about to say, understand that I still love you, no matter what. I really don't know if you will hate me when I tell you this but I just cannot live without telling you the truth." Katsuya took a really deep, audible breath. "I think I am in love with Kaiba Seto."

Honestly, Shizkua did not expect that. She was shocked and didn't even bother to hide it. She couldn't even formulate the words to repsond to her brother's shocking confession. In fact, shocking wasn't even a strong enough word. "Wow, wow, wow..." She kept saying wow over and over again.

"Shizu-chan?" Katsuya whispered tentatively. "Are you going to be okay?"

"How long?" Her words were barely over a breath.

"Huh?"

"How long did you know?" She asked.

"I don't know. I would think that it was just before you came. I started having dreams about Kaiba. At first, it was strange that I was dreaming about a guy that I hated. Then, the dreams become more..." He didn't know how to say the word.

"Romantic?"

Katsuya nodded. It wasn't the word that he would have used. The word would have been 'sexual'. "Yeah. I didn't understand it at first. I couldn't believe it at the time. So I tried to prove my dreams wrong. I went out with Mai."

"In order to do what?"

"I tried to prove to myself that I was straight. In fact, the date went well. But, when I went to kiss her ... I don't know ... I didn't feel anything. I don't think Mai felt anything either because we realized that nothing beyond friendship was going to happen."

"That would explain why you were testy when Yuugi-san and I brought up your date with Mai-san."

"I wouldn't say testy. I just didn't know how to feel that morning. I felt bad for using Mai. I put it behind me. Then, after that duel with Bri-kun, we went to talking about what happened last night. Somehow, he realized that I had feelings for Kaiba and got me to at least admit them to myself."

"You told Tranae-san before me?" She couldn't help but feel hurt with that revelation.

"I didn't plan on telling him. But it was like it just came out of me. He told me to tell everyone else so that I would feel better when it was out in the open. After that conversation, Kaiba, of all people, shows up and wants to bury the hatchet. I mean, we've been going at it since as far as I can remember and now he wants to call a truce. I had no idea what to say. He was like 'Your sister and my brother are in a relationship now. We shouldn't let our feelings interfere with that.' I was like, okay, and we shook on it. Then, it was like I was looking at him and he was looking at me. And then..."

Shizuka was hooked on Jounouchi's every word. "What happened next?"

"Well, I can't explain it even now but I kissed him." Katsuya reminisced, touching his lips as he did. "It was everything that I was looking for in a kiss. It was wonderful, intense and all those things. It was nothing like when I kissed Mai-san. And then, I ran away."

"Why? I thought you said that you liked "

"I don't know. I just felt like everything was spiraling out of control. I couldn't handle the fact that I just kissed a guy that I thought I hated not two days ago. So, when I was discussing what happened with Bri-kun when he was driving me home, he told me not to think of myself as gay or whatever. He told me that I should just think of myself as liking Kaiba, who happens to be a guy."

"But what happens if he's not gay or if he doesn't want a relationhip?" Shizuka asked.

"Then at least I'll know. But I just wanted you to know. I hate keeping stuff from you."

Shizuka was moved to hug her brother. The two stayed in that embrace for a space. "Onii-chan, I could never hate you. I'll admit that this is shocking but that doesn't change that you are my brother. I love you, no matter who you like." Sparkling tears flowed from the strawberry-blond girl just as they did from the blond.

This Kodak moment was interrupted when the phone rang. Neither wanted to move from that spot. It rang again. "I think I should get that." Katsuya told her sister. It rang a third time. That's when he decided to get up and answer the phone.

"Hello!" Katsuya answered.

* * *

Seto got home right after his conversation with Sakura. He called out to one of his servants to bring Mokuba to him and made his way to the living room and sat down in his favorite chair, a blue recliner. He took out the piece of paper in his pocket and looked at the number that the social worker gave him. It belonged to Jounouchi Katsuya. He wondered if the blond was at his house right now. While he was alone with his thoughts, Seto wondered what he was going to say to him. I mean, what does one say in these situations? He could ask Mokuba but it seemed strange to ask his little brother love advice. Frankly, it just seemed that the best way to talk to Jounouchi was to be direct. That was more his style.

At that moment, Mokuba came running towards the living room. Seto could hear something akin to a stampede heading in his direction. Then the stampede suddenly stopped. The next thing he knew was the wind being knocked out of him and seeing a mess of black hair. "You're home, Nii-sama."

Seto ruffled his brother's hair. Mokuba realized that his big brother was holding onto a piece of paper. He snatched it out of Seto's hands and ran away from him while the brunet gave chase. "So what's this? Your girlfriend's number?" He taunted. He then looked at the number more closely. He realized that he knew this number. "This is Shizuka-chan's number. Why do you have her number?"

"It's Jounouchi's number as well." Seto told him.

"Jounouchi?" Mokuba asked, his grey eyes curious. "Are you guys friends now?"

Seto closed his eyes. "I like Jounouchi." He confessed, leaving nothing else that can be interpreted with his confession.

Mokuba was floored. "You like Jounouchi-san? You mean like I like Shizuka-chan?"

"Yes. I planned on calling him tonight."

"But I thought you guys didn't like each other?"

"I just realized that I liked him today when we kissed." Seto sighed, not mincing any words.

"You guys kissed today? Wow. Honestly, I would have never guessed."

"How do you feel about it?" He asked. Seto was curious to find out how his brother felt.

"You mean, 'Am I disgusted by it?' Nii-sama is still Nii-sama, whether or not you like guys."

Seto could only smirk at this revelation. He was right. The kid, although he was shocked, idolized him. "Can I have the number back now?"

Mokuba complied with his brother's request and handed over the number.

Seto went to the living room and took out his cell phone. He dialed the number given to him by the social worker. He noted that his heart was beating a little faster with each successful number punched in and it was strange. After completing the sequence of numbers, he hit the send button.

Katsuya, after getting off the phone with Honda-kun was about to get some food out of the fridge when the phone rang. It was strange. He wasn't expecting another call. Yuugi was out with Anzu and Ryou didn't have his number. The phone rang two more times and he answered.

"Hello?" Katsuya answered politely

"Jounouchi" The voice on the other end replied. Katsuya knew the voice for who it was.

"Kaiba." The blond didn't bother asking how Kaiba got the number; he was too shocked to have him talking to him in the first place.

"We need to talk about what happen today." The brunet told the person on the other end of the line.

"Yeah, we do."

And for the longest time, for all of their verbal and physical fights, neither of them knew what to say.

* * *

And that's the end of Chapter six. There are a couple of things that need explaining now.

1. The main characters are Seto and Katsuya. Whenever they are in a scene, they take preference over the other characters. The narrator will identify them by their given name and, depending on how the relationship is between characters, will address others with the appropriate honorifics. So, for example, when Katsuya is center stage in the scene, his friends will be addressed as -kun or -chan approriately. Mokuba would be referred to as Mokuba-san and his social worker, Tranae Brittinia (I follow the Japanese way of putting family names first) would be addressed as Bri-kun. As for Seto, he will refer to all of Katsuya's friends by their last names except for Shizuka, which he refers to as Shizuka-san, and Sakura Nicola, because their relation dynamics are an employer-employee one by her last name. So, if you were even a bit confused by that, this is the explanation.

2. This is a chapter about Seto and Katsuya's feelings towards each other and, as such, is a more reflective chapter dealing on issues of being gay, their former relationship and their relationship with the parent figure in their lives. With Katsuya, it was a bit easier. I've already established that Tranae Brittinia was his father figure so having Katsuya talk to him about the Seto issue was easier to write because Katsuya, in the anime and manga, is always honest with his feelings. So, it's easier to put him into the frameset that he is in this chapter, with his fear of being gay, because of that. By establishing the line of connection between social worker and charge, it makes it easier for the reader to believe that this is coming from a deep place in Katsuya's heart. However, it is much harder with Seto. He is very internal, (in fact, he has almost the same amount of internal dialogue of Yuugi in the anime which is interesting for the fact that Yuugi is the protagonist), therfore, to make it believable was nothing short of a challenge. Some authors use what I call the "**PERKY YAOI WOMAN**". She is the character that pushes these internal boys to go for the relationship. With many of the stories, she can get away with just about bloody murder and still not be hated by the boy she is pushing. This is the one thing that I wanted to avoid (I'll explain that in point four). In Seto's scenes with Sakura Nicola, notice that she doesn't make Seto do anything or tell him to do this and that. She listens and gives advice. However, she does know that she is the worker and is afraid of him when warranted. I wanted their dynamics to be different than Katsuya and Brittinia. Nicola is more of a body that Seto can talk to so that it isn't internal. Internal dialogue is good and all but nothing beats external dialogue and action.

3. Brittinia's discussion about being gay mimics a book that I was reading for a philosophy course. His discussion on utility, pleasure and complete relationships is the discussion my foster father had with me.

4. Seto's scene with Brittinia and then Nicola was the hardest scene to type. As I already said, Seto is an internal character and wouldn't be apprieciative of a lecture on love, especially with someone he has never personally met. He is already coming to the conclusion he likes Katsuya so I wanted to drive the point home. In other fics, these are the times where the matchmaker comes and says "You should be with Katsuya. He's a cool dude and you two would be great together." I didn't want that. As I said before, I wanted to let Seto make his own decision, even though the end result is going to be Seto/Katsuya. I will honestly say that although I am satisfied with that scene, I'm not happy with it. It could be better, I know that. I just don't know how.

* * *

That's it. So now review. When you leave your review, I would appreciate it if you don't give the standard review "OMG luv it, plz update." Tell me what you like about the chapter, what you didn't like. Tell me your feeling on it and engage me in discussion. I appreciate those reviews more than the former. Finally, please be patient with me. I will be updating this story but not before my other ones. Here is the order.

Dearly Beloved

Once More, With Feeling

Young Hearts, Run Free

So, be patient. Thanks so much

Sparky


	7. Something You Feel

A new chapter. And it only took 3 months. Wow. Well, here you go. Enjoy and leave reviews. They make me happy.

* * *

Chapter 7: Something You Feel

Two boys were on the phone, each waiting for the other to speak. It was a long silence, fueled by the incompetent medium of the telephone. The aspect of being face-to-face was lost by the telephone and so the facial expressions that were happening during this silence were missed.

Katsuya didn't like it. He didn't like being silent. "I think one of us should speak. I don't know about you but I can't afford a high phone bill." He joked.

Seto chuckled. That broke the proverbial ice. "I guess…" The brunet teen pinched his brow. "About today…."

Katsuya was nervous. He wondered how Kaiba was going to react to the kiss. It made the blond nervous beyond belief.

"The kiss was no accident." Katsuya told the guy on the other end of the phone. "I started it."

"I am pretty sure that I was the one who instigated the kiss." Seto smirked even though the blond on the other end of the phone couldn't see it.

"No, it was me."

"It wasn't, puppy."

Katsuya growled. He wasn't going to allow Kaiba to upstage him and say that he was the one who started the kiss. However, the blond couldn't deny that the arguing instilled a sense of normality in the relationship. Before, he was nervous about how everything was going to change. It seems that not much has. For that, he was grateful.

"Fine." Katsuya said. "Let's agree to disagree."

"I think you are saying that because you know that I'm right." Seto told him playfully.

The playful tone dissipated and seriousness replaced it.

"What happens now, Kaiba?" Katsuya asked.

"What do you want to happen?" Seto asked. He had no idea what Jounouchi wanted from this. Hell, he didn't know what he wanted from this either. He knew that he liked the blond and wanted something from him. However, he didn't know what that was.

"I don't know." Katsuya answered. "I mean, at first it was like I hated you then something happens and now I like you. It's all too fast."

"Is that why you ran?"

Katsuya scoffed in embarrassment. "Sometimes you are too smart for your own good."

Kaiba chuckled. He was taking a shot in the dark but it seems that he was correct. "I didn't take offense, if that's what you are thinking."

"That's not what I was thinking, Moneybags." Katsuya smiled. "Guess you don't know everything."

"Never claimed to know everything. But I do know more than you, puppy." Seto responded, which elicited a chuckle from the blond on the other end of the line.

It was amazing. The two boys were actually having a civil conversation. A week ago, the two couldn't even exchange two words without their being some sort of fight. But now, they were talking as if they were old friends.

Katsuya sighed. "I want to meet you in person, Kaiba. This is kind of difficult to talk about over the phone."

"I understand." Kaiba answered. "Does 4 o'clock tomorrow work for you? I have a news conference an hour earlier. When that's over, I can see you."

"Works for me."

"I'll see you then." With that, Katsuya heard a click on the line and hung up the phone.

Katsuya sighed. When he did that, it was like all of the tension that was building up inside of him dissipated. For that, he was glad. He wondered, for a second, how Kaiba got his number in the first place. Then, he figured that Mokuba gave him the number since he was going out with Shizuka. But, if he were honest with himself, Katsuya could care less how Kaiba got his number.

The blond was happy that he got the chance to talk to Kaiba after what happened today. He would have thought that he sent the wrong message when he ran away from the kiss. It ate him up inside. Here was the guy that Katsuya was dreaming about all this week and when the kiss came, he was caught off-guard. But now, having discussed his feelings with his social worker and his preferences with his sister, Katsuya felt oddly better about things. He wasn't as worried as he was a couple of hours ago.

So lost was he in his thoughts that he didn't notice that Shizuka was standing next to him. Katsuya jumped a bit.

"Shizu-chan, don't sneak up on me like that." He grinned.

"Sorry, nii-chan." She replied. "Was that Kaiba-san?"

Katsuya wasn't going to keep anything from the girl anymore. "Yes."

Shizuka didn't want to pry but she was curious as to what was discussed on the phone. "May I ask how the conversation went?"

"We discussed the kiss and what to do now." He told her.

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to meet with him tomorrow."

"What do you want, Katsu-chan?" She asked.

Katsuya looked at her strangely. "What do you mean?"

"What is it that you are looking from Kaiba-san?"

Katsuya was completely honest with her. "I don't know, Shizu-chan. I don't know whether I want a full-on relationship with Kaiba or I just want to forget the whole thing." The blond had to laugh. "You know, things were simpler when we hated each other."

"Did you really hate Kaiba-san?" Shizuka asked. "From what I know from you and what I've heard from your friends, you two spent way too much time together for just being enemies."

"Yeah, I know." He told her. "If you want me to be totally honest with myself, I never **REALLY** hated him, just his attitude. He would always act as if he were better than everyone else. We tried to be his friend, me in particular, but he would call us names and stuff. He didn't even want to be around us, I guess. That pissed me off so much. Here we were trying to be nice to the guy and he acts like that."

"If you really hated him, why did you try so hard for him to be your friend?"

Shizuka was starting to understand her brother better. Since she had been away for a while, the girl didn't understand the dynamics of Kaiba-san and her brother's relationship or how her brother had changed over the years. She was coming into a world that she hadn't seen since the divorce. When she opened her eyes for the first time in a long time during the Battle City tourney, she saw her brother just like the way that she remembered him, cheerful and brave. That was all that she needed to dive into the water to save him from the trap that the Ghouls had set up for him and Yuugi.

When she saw how Katsu-chan and Kaiba-san acted around each other, it wasn't as contentious as she later learned from her brother it usually was. To her, it looked like playful ribbing. So when she heard that it got nastier than that, she was prepared to dislike Kaiba-san. However, after the tournament, Shizuka had to return home. Her mother wanted her back. She had all forgotten about the treatment of Kaiba-san to her brother until she returned and saw the welcome mat of Kaiba-san.

So now, when Katsu-chan was telling her about Kaiba-san and how he never really hated him and telling her that now he likes him, it was like needing a scoreboard.

"I don't know. I couldn't explain that to myself. He just looked so lonely."

"So, maybe you really did like him that long ago." Shizuka told him.

"Maybe." Katsuya grinned. "But that doesn't matter now."

Katsuya looked at the clock. It read 10:30. "Wow. It's late. I think I'm going to turn in now."

Shizuka smiled. She wanted to understand her brother a bit more but the girl knew that, in time, he would tell her. She would be patient. "Okay, I'm going to watch some TV and then go to bed. Night, nii-chan."

Katsuya smiled and headed to his room and plopped on the bed. He felt so happy talking to his sister without judgment. It lightened his mood considerably. Katsuya fell asleep soundly, not noticing the ethereal flame wisps above his head.

* * *

Seto looked at the phone for a long time. He had just talked to Jounouchi Katsuya, the guy that he kissed not 5 hours ago. And what's more, it wasn't like their previous interactions where they were yelling at each other, well where the blond was yelling at him and he was goading the blond. It was a civil conversation. Amazing!

His brother had long gone to bed, leaving Kaiba alone in his thoughts. Why was he so fixated and attracted on the blond? Sure Jounouchi was cute but then so were a lot of people. Why had his heart decided this teen was the one for him? Was it because Seto was dreaming about him now on a regular basis? That could be it. But then again, dreams don't mean anything when compared to reality. They are just dreams. Sometimes a cigar was just a cigar and sometimes a seemingly sexual relationship in a dream was just that, a dream. So what was it that made him want Jounouchi? Perhaps it was his constant devotion to his friends or maybe his determination in the face of overwhelming odds. That was a possibility.

But, try as he might, he couldn't think of a reason. Then Seto remembered what his secretary, Sakura Nicola, told him. _Love isn't something you can analyze. Love is something you feel._ And he knew that he felt that he was in love with Jounouchi. Nothing was going to change that. Trying to figure out why wasn't going to satisfy him. In fact, to Seto, it really didn't matter why anymore.

But now, the real question is what he wanted from this relationship. And he knew the answer to that. He wanted Jounouchi, all of him. That was the only way that he would feel happy was to have the blond. After that kiss, there was a fire that was stoked, wanting to consume him. The puppy enticed him to be burned by the passion without realizing it. He wanted it, needed it, like a man who comes out of the desert needs water. Seto knew that having Jounouchi was like having oxygen; it was essential to his well-being.

Seto found no shame in being this blatant with himself. Normally, he would have chastised himself for losing control of his wants. But now …

First, he had to know what Jounouchi wanted. Hopefully he wanted to at least try to see where things go. Although, Seto would respect whatever decision the blond made, secretly, he hoped that the blond would give him a chance. He didn't deserve it though, after treating him like crap.

The expectation kept him awake but his body was telling him that he needed some sleep. Seto obeyed the call of his body and so, he shuffled his way to his room. The queen-sized mattress suddenly seemed too big for just him. The brunet chuckled. Even now, he was thinking about the blond. Seto settled himself in a comfortable position on the bed and felt himself drifting away into sleeps arms, not noticing the ethereal flame wisps above him.

* * *

_Katsuya found himself in a red world. Well, everything was the same. All the buildings in Domino were the same but they were just colored red. For some reason, he was running. He didn't know why he was running. He felt himself leaving his body and surveying the situation. He saw Kaiba running with him. Why were they running?_

_That was answered by the sound of a deafening roar. It was almost inhuman. Katsuya turned around and saw a mob of people chasing after them. Kaiba turned to him._

"_Katsu-koi, don't turn around." Kaiba told him. "Just keep running."_

"_But we can't keep running forever, Seto." Katsuya felt himself say._

"_I know but if we stop, they are going to catch up with us."_

_Katsuya nodded and kept running. However, Kaiba tripped and fell to the floor. The blond stopped and tried to turn around to help him._

"_No, Katsu-koi." Kaiba pleaded. "Go on without me."_

"_But…"_

_It was too late. The mob caught them. Several people took hold of Kaiba and put him on his knees. Katsuya tried to help but he was restrained by six people._

_The faceless mob took turns hitting Kaiba. It was awful. There was so much blood. Katsuya could hear ever blow land with a sickening crack. He knew that his love's bones were broken and shattered. However, they wouldn't be sated yet. One of them took out a long knife and slowly inserted it into Kaiba. The brunet screamed in pain. The blond could only watch as Kaiba Seto was being stabbed._

_It took an excruciatingly long time for Kaiba to die. All the time, Katsuya could only look on in horror and struggle uselessly as the mob took away the love of his life._

"_One faggot down…" Someone from the faceless mob sneered. The person with the knife approached him. Katsuya could only see the glint of the metal instrument dripping with the blood of Kaiba._

Katsuya woke up with a start. The blond started hyperventilating. It was just a dream. Only a dream, he reminded himself. He felt his face and noticed that there were tears spilling down his face. He felt his heart in pain after remembering the dream. Katsuya was frightened. Was this dream a premonition of things to come or just a dream manifestation of his own worries and fears?

Katsuya looked at the clock in his room. It read 3:41. _Too early to get up but too late to go back to sleep_, the blond thought. Katsuya sat up and hugged his pillow. _Kaiba_…

* * *

_Seto found himself in what could only be described as a shantytown. There were many tents around him. He looked at himself and noticed that he was wearing smelly rags. He couldn't understand why._

_He walked in the tented community, trying to find out why he was here. He saw many people who looked like they haven't eaten in several days. Their distended bellies, cakey-like skin and sunken eyes attested to their homelessness and poverty. It was saddening._

_Seto caught sight of blond hair losing its luster. He followed the blond, not knowing what to do. The blond stopped at one of the tents and sat down next to a woman. Seto just looked on as the blond gently took one of her hands._

"_You look like the man in the newspapers." The woman said._

_The blond man snorted, as if he were disgusted with himself. "Yep, I was the one who brought down Kaiba Seto."_

_Seto wheeled back. Someone brought him down? How the hell did that happen?_

"_How did you do that?" The woman queried, asking the question that Seto wanted to ask._

"_He fell in love with me." There was guilt in the blond's voice. "He was suppose to be an immovable rock in a violent sea but he fell in love with me. At first, it was great. Even the word 'great' falls short of what we had. But he started to lose control. He paid more attention to me than to his company. Someone pulled the rug under him and those in the company loyal to him. He had to sell everything. No one would hire him after losing an entire company. I mean, who would want to take that risk? He couldn't even get a crappy job. We had to live here. And it's all because of me."_

_The blond man sniffled as if he were holding back tears. "I distracted him. I caused him to lose everything that he worked so hard to obtain. It's all my fault. I suppose there's only one thing to do… free him from my connection."_

_The blond ran from the shantytown. Seto followed after him. He knew who it was. It was Jounouchi and from the sounds of it, he was going to do something drastic._

_The shantytown led to the highway. Jounouchi ran to the meridian and saw a large truck. He stepped in front of it._

_**Jounouchi**__… Seto shouted_

Seto woke up from the dream, whispering the blond's name. Waking up from the dream made him shiver. It felt so real and completely different from the other dreams about Jounounchi. He figured that the dream was his subconscious fears about jumping into a relationship with the blond.

It was strange though that it was the blond and not him getting hit by the truck. Was it his fear that he might cause harm to Jounouchi? The company, he knew, was in safe hands. No one in their right minds would even think of trying to cross him. But…

Seto shook his head. Dreams are just that, dreams. He would shape his own reality and no dream was going to tell him otherwise.

The brunet teen looked at his clock. Red lines told him that it was 4:51. He was suppose to wake up in nine minutes anyways. No point going back to sleep. Seto got up from his bed and fixed the covers to make them presentable. Even though he had a person who could do that, Seto just wanted something to take his mind off of the harrowing dream.

It was a Saturday. On these days, he usually let Mokuba sleep in until 10. He didn't want him wasting the whole day asleep. Having dressed himself for work, he made his way to the kitchen. Preparing a cup of coffee, Seto thought of what today was going to entail. He had to work on the parameters of a new game that he was developing with his R&D team and then at 3, he had a press conference to discuss the merger that happened the other day. But the most important thing he was doing today, or more precisely the thing he looked forward to, he was going to meet with Jounouchi.

That meeting put a smile on his face. It was amazing how a guy who a week ago was considered third-rate would be able to make him expectant of a simple meeting. It's not like they haven't seen each other before but this was different. This time, the nature of their relationship had changed.

Even though he could remember the dream, he didn't care. He loved Jounouchi and Seto was going to do everything in his power to make sure that the dream didn't come to pass. Fear and worry were not apart of his vocabulary.

With his coffee ready, Seto poured himself a cup and headed out the door.

* * *

Katsuya couldn't sleep after the dream. He felt strange. He knew that it was just a dream but it felt so real. It filled him with real terror. However, it still didn't change how he felt about Seto. If his social worker were here, he would tell Katsuya that it was just his own fear that was spilling over into his dream, at least that's what he thought.

It was strange though. This is the first time that he dreamt of the other teen like this. All of the other dreams were romantic or sexual in nature. This is the first time that he dreamt of Kaiba and felt fear. Perhaps this relationship was a bad idea. Katsuya didn't want to cause harm to Kaiba. But, then again, he couldn't deny that he wanted the brunet. How was he going to reconcile this with himself?

Katsuya thought about calling Bri-kun but refrained. He wanted to figure this out on his own. He couldn't rely on his social worker for everything. He wanted to stand on his own two feet, to make his own mistakes and learn from them.

The blond looked at the clock. It read 6:13. The first glimmers of sunlight were peeking through his window. That was weird. He didn't know how quickly time had passed while he was mentally debating the dream and what to do. Perhaps he fell asleep somewhere in between and he didn't realize it. Whatever… Katsuya really didn't feel like getting up right now as he was in a good place with his bed. It was all comfy and …

The blond went back to sleep.

Kaiba Seto was a very punctual man. At 6 o'clock on the dot, he pulled up to the parking lot of the building that bore his name. He parked within a minute and headed from the garage to the elevator. It was time to go to work.

At 6:03 exactly, the elevator from the garage opened up to the top floor where his office resided. There was a new receptionist at the desk to greet him. At some point, the big bad CEO thought, he was going to have to learn the man's name. He just was hired to that position through Sakura, his VP. Then again, receptionists usually had a life of a month with him. Most of them voluntarily quit but for those who didn't, they usually did something to piss him enough to fire them on the spot. The whole process was irrelevant.

Seto entered his office and sat down at his desk. He was ready for a full day's of work. Looking at his agenda showed that besides the press conference that he had today, the only other thing that needed to be done today was to review the recommendations from his Research and Development team on the new virtual reality game that KaibaCorp had on the front burner. It was the on the cutting edge of the new market and the CEO wanted to be the first.

There was a knock on his office door. Seto made a noise that was somewhere between a grunt and a noise of approval. In came Sakura Nicola, his vice president and personal assistant. She had a bunch of papers in her hands. She closed the door behind her.

"These are the recommendations from R&D that you requested today." She told him

"On my desk, Sakura." He told her. She complied and sat down in the seat opposite from him.

"Is there anything else that you need, Seto-kun?" She asked.

Seto looked at her with intense cerulean eyes. "I'm going to be meeting with Jounouchi after the press conference."

Sakura was surprised. The blonde-haired woman knew that whenever Seto put his mind to something, he would do it and do it quickly. But such a bold move in an area that he had never explored before, that was something different altogether.

"Okay. Have you decided what you want from him?" She asked

"I want all of him." Seto told her, leaving no room for interpretation.

"And what does he want?" She asked.

"I don't know. That's why we are going to meet today."

"Okay." She acquiesced. "Here's a question though. If he doesn't want a relationship, what would you do?"

Seto never considered that as a possibility. He knew that Jounouchi liked him. Come on, he kissed him back so there had to be something right? But what if he were wrong? What if…

The dream that he had last night was coming back to him. Seto remembered the dream Jounouchi getting hit by a truck because he felt guilty destroying KaibaCorp. Could that really happen? Would the blond feel that guilt-ridden that he wouldn't be able to function? Would Jounouchi taking his own life be the result of a relationship between them?

"What are you thinking?" Sakura asked.

Seto snorted quietly. "You are going to find this absurd."

"Try me."

Seto nodded. "I had a dream last night about Jounouchi. This dream was different than the others that I've had about him recently."

"How so?"

"Well, in this dream, we were homeless. Somehow, because of my relationship with him, someone stole the company from me and we were living in tents next to the highway. Jounouchi felt guilty because he thought that he was the cause of this and ran into traffic and was hit by a truck." Seto related the dream without hesitation or emotion, so detached was he by this dream.

"Well, as Freud said, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar." Sakura tried to comfort him.

"That's exactly what I thought when I had the dream."

"Is that going to stop you from pursuing this relationship?" She asked, but she already knew the answer.

"Not in the slightest. I won't let that dream come to pass."

Sakura nodded and left the office, allowing Seto to go back to work.

* * *

Katsuya woke up around 11. He didn't dream this time. Katsuya wasn't going to fester on the dream. He knew that it was just his mind playing tricks on him. There was no reason to get excited over it.

Katsuya felt grungy in his clothes and so, he decided to take a shower. The water felt good on his skin and helped to remove the grime, dirt and yuckies from sleeping. As he was in the shower, he thought on what was going to happen today. He knew that today he was going to meet his former rival turned infatuation.

Katsuya no longer mused on the fact that it was just last week that they didn't like each other. That was the past; this was now. And now, he had a crush on Kaiba. The heart wants what it wants. And Katsuya always followed his heart, wherever it led him.

It took the blond a total of 30 minutes to finish his shower. Feeling refreshed, he headed into his kitchen. He didn't notice any signs that his sister was in the apartment. As he was opening the refrigerator, he saw a piece of paper on the door, held up by a magnet. The handwriting was his sister's.

_Nii-chan,_

_Hanging out with Anzu-san today, Yuugi-san said he was coming over at 12. I think you should tell him about Kaiba-san._

_Shizuka_

Katsuya took the note off the fridge and put it on the kitchen counter. He then made himself a bowl of cereal, nothing special.

When the blond was halfway finished with his breakfast, there was a knock on the door. He ambled towards the entrance and opened the door. It was his friend, Yuugi. He was kind of hard to confuse with someone else. The hair color was unique, for lack of a better word.

"Come in, Yuugi-kun." Katsuya opened his home to his friend. Yuugi obliged and stepped through the threshold and into the apartment.

Katsuya was curious. What brought Yuugi to his home? Not that he minded but it was weird. Normally, the tri-colored haired teen would call ahead to check if he was available. To come unannounced was unlike his friend.

"What brings you to this neck of the woods?" He asked playfully.

"Well, I wanted to apologize for yesterday and trying to set you up with Mai-san, Jou-kun." Yuugi told him.

"Don't worry about it. Yesterday is yesterday. Today is today. We wipe the slate clean."

"I'm glad." Yuugi breathed a sigh of relief. "If you want, I'm sure that Anzu knows some girls who would…"

Katsuya cut him off there. "There's no need, Yuugi. I've already found someone else."

Yuugi was confused but happy for him. "Really? When did this happen?"

Katsuya exhaled sharply. He didn't want to lie to his friend but he didn't know how Yuugi was going to take this. "Yesterday."

"Wow. I would have never guessed." Yuugi was now ecstatic. He was happy for his friend that he found someone like he had found Anzu. "So, do I know the person?" He asked.

Katsuya couldn't help but smirk. "More than you think."

The way that his friend said that made Yuugi look at the blond curiously. What did he mean by that? Well, no harm in asking. "And does this person have a name?" He asked playfully, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

"Kaiba." The blond said with all finality.

At first, Yuugi was stunned. He couldn't help but feel like the blond was joking with him. Of all the names that he could have said, Kaiba's was the least likely to come out of his friend's mouth without a string of curses. "No, seriously, who is it?"

"It's Kaiba." Katsuya told Yuugi.

It was then that Yuugi saw the seriousness in his friend's eyes. He wasn't joking. "When did this happen?"

"Yesterday, after the duel. He found me after I finished talking to Bri-kun and we were talking about Mokuba-kun and Shizu-chan and then something happened. I touched his hand and something that I can't explain happened. It was like electric and fire all at the same time. And at that time, I was looking into his eyes. Yuugi-kun, you wouldn't believe how blue they were. And then, well even at this moment, I can't explain it. We kissed and it was like nothing I could ever explain."

Yuugi was entranced by the story. He would have never guessed that Jounouchi had these kinds of feelings for Kaiba. So, all the anger bursts and the insults masked a deep love. He would have never known about that.

Katsuya, unaware of Yuugi's inner thinking, continued. "I ran after the kiss. I couldn't believe that I kissed him. I mean, this was Kaiba. I thought that I hated him. And here I was, locking lips with him. I met up with you guys afterwards and told everyone that we just had a truce. I was frightened. What would people think of me now? Would they hate me?"

"Oh Jou-kun. We could never hate you." Yuugi consoled him.

"I know that but this was something different. At that point, I didn't know what to think. After getting a ride from my social worker and talking about my feelings, I told Shizu-chan and she was shocked but she said that she still loved me. You don't know how good that felt to hear that."

Yuugi put his hand on one of Jou's. "You are still Jounouchi Katsuya to us. You are still our friend, no matter what happens."

Katsuya took his own hand and clasped the smaller teen's hand. "Thank you."

With the confession out of the way, Yuugi felt a bit lighter knowing something so intimate about the blond. "So now, what are you going to do?"

"Well, I'm going to meet Kaiba later on today."

"You want me to go for moral support?" He asked.

"Nah, I can handle it."

Katsuya admittedly didn't tell Yuugi about the dream that he had last night. It already was too much to tell him about his feelings about Kaiba. He didn't want to unduly worry the teen.

"So we heard about me. What's going on with you and Anzu-san?" Katsuya smirked in a way that couldn't be considered wholesome. "Have you two done something special?"

Yuugi blushed profusely. "Jou…" He chastised.

* * *

It was nearing 3 o'clock. Kaiba Seto knew that he had to do the press conference. He didn't like doing these things because he had to answer stupid questions, even if he had already answered them in his press release. He tried to anticipate every question that any conceivable person could ask to try and make everything as short as possible. However, that only leads to questions about his personal life. Those questions really grated him. What he did beyond this building had nothing to do with them. It was his own business and the CEO tried to keep it that way. Many of the bodyguards that he hired were there to do just that, keep the voracious press at bay from him and Mokuba when they were trying to live a normal life.

He wondered how his life was going to change should he pursue a relationship with Jounouchi. Would reporters and paparazzi leave them alone? Fat chance of that happening if he couldn't get that now. He wondered how he was going to be portrayed in the news that he was going out with a man. Not that he cared about things like that, but still, it piqued his curiosity.

At this point, none of that mattered. Right now, he needed to focus his attentions on the conference that he is about to give. There was a knock on his door. It was his receptionist, telling him that it was time. Seto sighed. _Once more into the breach_, he thought.

* * *

Katsuya said his goodbyes to Yuugi. The blond felt better telling his friend how he felt about the changes that he was undergoing. It was like there was a weight off of his shoulders.

He looked at the clock. It was 2:45. Katsuya really despised the clock. He wanted to see Kaiba now. The wait was killing him. He was told that Kaiba had a press thingie today and that after it was done, they would meet. But waiting was overrated.

The blond heard the scratches of a key being used on a lock. He smiled. It was his sister. Katsuya knew he was correct when Shizuka walked through the door with a bag in one of her hands.

"Did you enjoy your time with Anzu?" Katsuya asked

"I did. It's kind of nice that there's another girl in the girl who I can talk to." Shizuka responded.

"Did you talk about clothes and boys?" The blond teased her.

"Nii-chan, that's mean." Shizuka stuck out her tongue.

It really felt good to have Shizuka back in his life. When their parents divorced, it left a huge hole in his heart. His father turned to drinking… or more accurately, he redoubled his drinking habits until he died. But he really didn't care about that man. He may have made the shots that made his mother pregnant with him and his sister, but he was nothing more than a bee that spreads pollen on a flower. That man was useless. Although Katsuya didn't blame his mother for divorcing the man, he wished that he would have been taken away with her as well. But, when he thought about it, if he did, he wouldn't have met Yuugi-kun, Honda-kun, Anzu, Bri-kun, and … Kaiba. So maybe, it was for the best.

"What are you thinking about, Katsu-chan?" Shizuka asked.

Katsuya smiled and looked at the clock. It read 3 o'clock. He wasn't waiting another second. "Shizu-chan, do you want to take a trip with me?"

"Where?"

"To KaibaCorp."

Shizuka smiled. "Lead the way, Nii-chan."

* * *

At the front walkway into KaibaCorp, Seto was rattling off his press release from the teleprompter. He wasn't really paying attention much. He could go on auto-pilot if the need required it. His mind was focused on what was going to happen after this. He wanted to see the blond. He wanted to be around him. He looked into the eyes of those in the Press Corp. All of them had their pads and pens and mics and all those things that reporters had. It was quite boring.

There were some days that Seto wished that he could hire someone to do these things. But the last time that he did that, the guy screwed up so bad, it took weeks to undo the damage. So he did it himself.

As he was giving the release, he saw that the doors were opening. That was strange. It didn't distract him from the prompter but it did give him pause, mentally. Who could it be? Even though he couldn't see clearly from here, Seto noticed a tuft of golden blond hair. It couldn't be… could it? It couldn't be 4 already.

Seto paused for a minute and gave a look to Sakura who was standing next to him. She nodded and made her way to the entrance.

* * *

Katsuya and Shizuka made it to KaibaCorp in 20 minutes. Before they went inside the building, they saw that the front walkway was packed with people. It was amazing to see all those people with their cameras and their mics and stuff crammed into one space.

Katsuya knew that Kaiba was going to be busy. He didn't plan on this though. Now what were they going to do?

As they tried to get a better view of things, an arm reached out to him. It was a suit, probably one of Kaiba's bodyguards. One grabbed him and another grabbed his sister. Before they could shout, a woman came to them. Katsuya had to admit, she was really pretty. She had extremely long blonde hair and he could see green eyes. The woman nodded and the suits let them go.

"Please follow me, you two." She told them. The two did as she asked.

The woman led the siblings around the press and into a side conference room. She opened the door and allowed Katsuya and Shizuka to enter. The woman then came in and shut the door behind her. The room was sparsely decorated. There were several chairs and a long table.

"Excuse me, miss." Katsuya started to say but the woman held her hand up to silence him.

"We've met before, Kawai Shizuka-san." The woman said.

"We did." She answered. "I apologize. I don't remember your name."

"My name is Sakura Nicola. I am vice-president under Kaiba Seto and his personal assistant." The blonde told her. "I apologize for the rough treatment from the bodyguards." She turned to Katsuya. "And you must be Jounouchi Katsuya-san. I've heard much about you."

This was strange. He had never known that this woman existed until today but now she was saying that she knows about him. "How, if you don't mind me asking?"

"We have two people in common."

Now Katsuya was wary. Did Kaiba talk about him to this woman? But then, if he did, who was the other person? "Is one of the people Kaiba?"

"It sure is." She smiled. There was a natural warmth around her. Katsuya couldn't help but allow his wariness to be diffused.

"Then who is the other person?"

"The other person is Tranae Brittinia." She smiled more.

Katsuya felt a pang. Bri-kun, above being his social worker, was his friend. How could that man talk about him with this woman? "How do you know Tranae-san?"

"What? No Bri-kun?" She laughed. "He didn't tell you? He's my husband."

Katsuya was shocked. So this was Bri-kun's wife. She was really pretty. And it was strange. She looked at him like a mother would. In fact, there was this whole motherly glow about her.

"Oh, that makes me feel better." Katsuya sighed.

"Did you think that I was some kind of stalker? I'm hurt." She sighed mockingly.

When she did that, he was reminded of his social worker. Katsuya was relieved. She knew how to remove the tension, just like he did.

"You're here to see him." Sakura Nicola said, already knowing the answer.

"We were going to meet up after his press thingie, Sakura-san."

"Well, I'll bring him here when he's done." She turned to Shizuka. "I'm sure you would like to be with Mokuba-kun, correct?"

"He's here?" She asked, the light shined in her eyes.

"Mokuba-kun is in testing. I can have someone escort you." The woman told Shizuka.

Before Shizuka could even ask, Katsuya put a hand on her shoulder. "Go. I'll be fine."

She kissed her big brother on the cheek and followed Sakura Nicola out of the room and closed the door, leaving Katsuya alone with his thoughts.

* * *

Seto was closing up his press conference. He was truly thankful that it was. As he was taking follow-up questions, his VP and secretary, Sakura, whispered in his ear.

"_Kawai Shizuka-san is heading to testing to hang out with Mokuba-kun. Jounouchi Katsuya-san is waiting for you in conference room 105 when you are done."_

Seto nodded and took more questions. He quickly glanced at his watch. It read 3:52. He was ending this in eight minutes.

* * *

Katsuya found some pencils on the floor of the conference room. He started banging on the table, as if it were a drum. There was nothing else to do while he was waiting so he had to entertain himself.

As he was going into the big finish, the door opened. There at the entrance was HIM… Kaiba Seto. This was the guy who was literally in his dreams. This was the same guy who he hated not a week ago but with whom he was falling in love.

"What took you so long, Kaiba?" Katsuya smirked.

"I have to work, unlike some people."

"I work too."

Katsuya loved the banter. Although his feelings may have changed, this hasn't and he had to thank whatever power was responsible for this feeling of normality.

The air changed from playfulness to seriousness.

"That kiss…" Seto started.

"I know." Jounouchi breathed in a manner that can only be described as husky.

"It was no accident."

"I know. I like you, Kaiba."

"So, where do we go from here?" Seto asked. Jounouchi looked at him but didn't say anything.

* * *

That's chapter 7. Can you believe it? Another dream.

I wanted to do something different in the dream sequences. In the other dreams Seto and Katsuya were getting hot and heavy. This one, I wanted to show their fears and worries however warranted they may be.

I know there was lack of Set/Kat action here but I will make up for it in the next chapter. That I promise. In other news. This story is over 100 pages long and 50k words. Frickin awesome.

Please be kind. Review. They make me feel happy and appreaciated. Feel free to leave me something. What you like, what you didn't like. Something. I make this story for the yaoi-freak girlfriend of mine because it helps me get laid but I do want to know how you guys like it. So give me something please. Kay, love you, byebye

Sparky


	8. Someday, We'll Shine

Chapter 8: Someday, We'll Shine

This chapter was suppose to be posted a week ago. But I got caught with football season and video games (shakes fist at them). Anyways, enjoy.... or don't. It's your choice.

* * *

Seto and Katsuya were sitting quietly. Unlike the phone call conversation last night, this silence was amicable. They were enjoying each other's company. Nothing needed to be said.

"So what now?" Katsuya asked, brushing away a stray hair from his face.

"I guess we go out now." Seto exclaimed, saying it as if he were talking about something mundane.

Katsuya smirked. "What? No romance and shit?"

"I'm not like the guys from harlequin romance novels. You should know that, puppy." Kaiba retorted.

"Yeah, the day I hear something sappy and lovey-dovey...." Then the blond frowned. "Wait a minute. That would make the chick. Bastard."

Seto smirked in the way only he knew. "Glad you caught on quickly."

The blond lowered his head and smiled without allowing the other to see. "You never change, don't you?"

Seto looked away, not knowing what to say now.

He didn't realize that the blond was looking at him intensely. "Why me?" Katsuya asked

"What do you mean?"

"Why do you like me? You're fuckin' Kaiba Seto. You could have your pick of anyone in the world. So why me?"

The person in question just shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I guess it was because you were different. You challenged me. You never backed down from me. Anyone who has ever had a crush on me was always some simpering fool who couldn't tell their head from their ass. But you were so fiery. To someone as like me, it was a complete change of pace."

The blond looked down. "Yeah, but when did this start?"

"Well, I suppose I've always felt this way but it started up again more recently."

Katsuya scoffed. "I guess that's the same way with me. You may not believe this but it hadn't been more than a week before I started dreaming about you."

Seto's eyes widened but his face betrayed nothing. "_Him too_?" He thought. "Is that so?" he asked

"Yeah. Some of the dreams were very ..." Katsuya paused, a blush creeping on his face. "intense."

Seto turned around and studied the blond's face. He had a feeling what was on the tip of his tongue, judging by the look on his face. And to tell the truth, Seto was happy. It seems as though Jounouchi was thinking the same way that he was. That's when the thoughts started to ferment in him. He thought about that body in the throes of passion, intertwined with his. He thought of that mouth, which he always thought was loud and unending, and wondered if that mouth was good at other things.

"Kaiba." Jounouchi shouted.

Seto shook his head. "What was that?"

"You were somewhere in lala-land." The blond smirked. "What were you thinking about?"

Seto smirked. "You."

Katsuya was taken aback for a moment. Then he smirked right back.

"Really?" The blond wondered aloud. "What about me were you thinking about?"

Seto crept closer to Katsuya. The blond stood his ground and smiled, waiting for him to come closer. Their breaths started to mingle.

Both boys tried to move closer to each other. However, as one of the boys got closer, the other one moved back. Neither was unsure of the role that he was going to play now. Would he be the aggressor or the submitter? Neither boy had had a relationship prior to this and so, neither was ready for a kiss that wasn't spontaneous.

As Seto tried one more time, Katsuya just laughed, ruining the moment. "S-sorry, Kaiba." He burst into a fit of giggles. "It's just too funny."

Seto just sat down, a mock huff escaping his lips. "I'll never understand you, puppy."

"Admit it. You like that about me." Katsuya smirked victoriously.

"Sure, whatever." The brunet spat but he was smiling as well.

Katsuya grabbed one of the pencils that he left on the desk once Seto entered the conference room and threw it up in the air, caught it and then repeated the action. "So now what?"

Seto responded by grabbing Katsuya's hand, which greatly surprised the blond. "Come with me."

Katsuya couldn't refuse and he didn't want to either. Wherever the taller teen took him was fine with the blond.

Seto took Katsuya out of the building and, after calling his brother to tell him that they would be stepping out for a moment, he took the blond for a walk.

* * *

Mokuba put his phone away after the call was finished. The two were standing in Mokuba's "office", watching movies on a giant computer screen. Shizuka looked at her boyfriend with an apparent interest.

"Who was that?" Shizuka asked, although she had an idea.

"My brother. He and your brother are going to hang out for a while. He said to order dinner and to behave."

A wicked smile crept across his face. Shizuka smirked.

"So what's the plan?" She asked, already seeing the machinations in her boyfriend's head.

"Whatever do you mean, darling?" Mokuba responded in a facetious tone. "I know not the plan of which you speak?"

Shizuka was understanding her boyfriend more and more each day. He was a mischievous one to be sure. Already, she deduced that he was thinking about his and her brother's date. To be honest, she wanted to see how that was going as well.

"It has something to do with Kaiba-san and Katsu-chan?" She inquired, already knowing the response.

"Maybe."

"How do we find them?" The redhead asked.

Mokuba pulled out a wireless keyboard and began clacking the keys rapidly.

"See, every phone can be tracked by cell phone towers. All you have to do is calibrate the number and then call it. From there, the called phone will connect to cell phone towers around the area. Basically, three cell phone towers can connect you to the system. From there, all that is needed to do is to triangulate the signal and then it gives you an approximate location."

The redhead was impressed. "When did you learn how to do this?"

"My brother taught me. He said that this was probably a skill that I would need in the future."

The computer screen showed the appropriate data. Mokuba worked it and, in a couple of minutes, he got a location.

"It seems as though they are in the Domino Park." Mokuba snorted. "How cliche. Let's go, Shizuka-san."

"Nah, maybe we shouldn't." Shizuka told the black-haired boy.

Mokuba was confused by this change in attitude. "Really?" He was about to drop the subject when the girl smirked.

"Those two are trying to be alone, you know privately?" She cooed.

Mokuba caught on quickly. "It would really be rude to invade their personal space."

"Most importantly, it would be wrong." Shizuka smiled.

The two left the office to go and spy on their brothers.

* * *

Seto and Jounouchi wandered aimlessly through the busy streets of Domino. They chatted about everything and anything that was on their mind. Anyone who would have seen them would have thought that they were the best of friends and would not have guessed that not even a week ago, they were at each others throats. Seto treated Katsuya to an early dinner at a burger joint.

Seto watched in horror as Katsuya devoured a ton of greasy, artery-clogging foods in what couldn't now be called his mouth. It was like a garbage disposal. Seto looked at his own food, a chicken wrap, the healthiest thing that could be called food on his plate and couldn't eat it. Watching the blond eat was a horrifying sight.

"How do you eat without breathing?" Seto asked in amazement and disgust.

"mpphmprhrpmpphhr" The blond responded with his mouth full.

Kaiba grimaced. He was in love with this guy WHY?

"Please do not talk with your mouth full, mutt." The brunet muttered as he pressed his hand against his forehead.

Katsuya thought for a moment and then decided that the appropriate response would be to stick out his tongue and show the guy across from him his chew-up food. Seto was quite disturbed by this.

"Why me?" He asked no one in particular.

"Because you love me." Was the response given to him.

Seto made an annoyed noise but did not disagree. "When you are done engorging your mouth, come with me. There is somewhere that I want to go."

* * *

Mokuba and Shizuka were looking for their brothers by tracking Seto's phone. They were following the signal via Mokuba's Blackberry. It lead them through Domino Park. Then it did something strange.

"This is strange." Mokuba told his girlfriend.

"What is it?" Shizuka asked.

"Well, the signal is saying that we are on top of Seto." He responded.

"That doesn't make sense."

Mokuba looked down at his feet in frustration. Then he noticed something. There was a KaibaCorp emblem on the earthen ground. Mokuba found it as strange.

"Why is there a KaibaCorp emblem on this ground?" Mokuba mused.

"Perhaps it might be a good idea to dig on that spot." Shizuka told him.

The two decided to dig with their bare hands. After a couple of feet, they found an iron box with Mokuba's name on it.

"Now that's strange. Why is there a box with my name on it?" The black-haired boy asked.

"Why don't you open it?" The girl suggested.

Mokuba did so. Inside the box was a blinking light and a note. Mokuba read the note aloud.

_Mokuba,_

_  
I knew that one day that you would use the phone tracking skill that I taught you against me one day. And so I created this as a test of your skill and as a deterrent. If you were good at this, you would find this box. However, if you were REALLY good at it, you would actually find me. If you have found this box, you have fallen for my trick. As such, I have two things to say to you. One: Don't use the things I've taught you against me. You won't win. Two: Failing that, do a better job._

_Seto_

After finishing the letter, Mokuba blushed. Then his phone rang.

The young boy answered it. "Hello."

"Mokuba." The voice on the other end responded.

"Nii-sama!" Mokuba squeaked.

"It seems as though you found the box." Seto told him in a even tone.

Mokuba laughed nervously. "I don't know what you're talking about, Nii-sama."

"Do you see the blinking light on the box?" Seto told his younger brother. "That light is a transponder. When the box is open, it activates and sends an alert to my phone."

Mokuba scratched his head as his brother continued to chastise him. "Also, have you forgotten who taught you how to trace people through their cell phones? I have already traced you at the site where I buried the box."

The younger boy tried to wiggle out of this. "Um... It's not what you think?"

"So it isn't you and your girlfriend trying to spy on Jounouchi and myelf? I am quite curious as to what else this could be."

Mokuba, for the life of him, couldn't think of a proper response.

"Well, I will say is that if this happens again, I might have to explore alternative modes of rehabilitating this need of spying on me." Seto chastised.

Mokuba gulped. Whenever his big brother said that he was "exploring alternative modes of rehabilitation", it meant that he was going to punish him. The black-haired boy knew when he was beat. Time to quit while he was behind.

"Fine. I'll go back to the office." Mokuba relented.

"See that you do." With that, the line went dead.

Mokuba related everything back to his girlfriend. Knowing that they were outsmarted, the two went back to the office to spend some time together.

* * *

From a distance, Seto and Katsuya watched as their two siblings walk away from the site where the teenage CEO buried the box. Katsuya had a wide smirk on your face.

"So you planted that there just in case your brother got the urge to follow you?" The blond asked.

"Something like that. I buried a box with a GPS locater under the box to confuse the media just in case they tried to trace me. Sometime after this, I taught Mokuba how to track someone by their phone. I figured that he would one day try to track me. In fact, I planned on it today since we were going out today. So I left the note and the emblem inside the box early this morning."

"How did you know that he would try it today?" Katsuya mused.

"I'm a big brother." He responded.

Katsuya could only laugh.

They spent the rest of the day together in the park. There were several activities to do there. There was a handball wall. Seto purchased a ball and the two played head-to-head. Katsuya handily defeated him in all of the games that they played. The blond, as Seto already knew, made sure that he didn't forget it either.

"What happened Mr. Champ?" Katsuya asked. "Would you like me to go easy on you next time?"

Seto's eyes narrowed. He took a mock swing at him. Katsuya only laughed

"Oooh, scary scary." He mocked

There happened to be a dueling arena in the park. Katsuya, still on a winner's high, decided to challenge Seto to a duel. The taller teen accepted.

After the duel, Seto had an aura of superiority around him. Katsuya sulked.

"You got lucky." Katsuya spat in mock anger.

"Would you like me to go easy on you next time?" Seto asked, repeating the words said to him after their handball contest.

The blond made an annoyed noise. "Fine. I won't gloat next time I win."

Seto smirked. "So it is true. The puppy can be trained."

Katsuya was indignant. "Why you..." and he began to chase Seto around the park.

* * *

The two ended their day on a park bench. Night had fallen. The two looked up at the sky and saw the wonders of creation before them. They felt extremely insignificant compared to the stars in the sky.

"You know, every time I look at the night sky, I feel so small." Katsuya whispered to the teen that he had been falling in love with all this week. "The stars in the sky are high and bright. It always gets me thinking."

"About what?" Seto asked, intrigued by this line of thought.

"How does man shine?" The blond responded. "What is it about us that makes us shine like the stars in the sky?"

Seto thought for a moment, unsure how to answer that question. "Who is to say? Perhaps significance only comes through others. When we connect, then we shine."

Katsuya moved closer to Seto, satisfied with this answer. Seto, in response, grabbed the blond's hand. It was a welcomed gesture.

"So what happens after this?" Seto asked.

Katsuya smiled softly. "Don't worry about it."

"I was ...."

"DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT." Katsuya reiterated. "Let's just enjoy the now." Seto relented. Why was he worrying? The blond was right.

Jounouchi Katsuya and Kaiba Seto shared a strange bond with each other. While it is true that their relationship had changed, it is also true that the dynamics haven't. They were still mocking each other, trying to one-up the other. And yet, compared to a week ago, this was all in civility, all in jest. And it all started with a dream. Something so innocuous turned into something that neither expected. And yet, they didn't refuse it. They embraced it.

The two boys decided that the now was more important than the future. Whatever happens beyond this moment could be dealt with when it comes. Seto thought back to the question about how does man shine. He came up with an answer. As long as he had Katsuya by his side, perhaps someday, together, they'll shine.

* * *

And that's the end of chapter 8. No this story is not done yet. I just wanted to set up a time shift properly. If you have noticed, I have been focused on five days. And so I want some time to pass. I want the next chapter to be set six weeks from now.

So, tell me what you think. Like this chapter, hate it. I want to know what my readers think. Leave me a review. Tell me what you liked or what you hated. Please don't leave me a "omg luv it, update" review or a "omg u sux" one either. It doesn't tell me anything. I want to know. It makes me happy to engage my readers.

Finally, for those who have been following me. Here are the list of updates coming

Dearly Beloved, Chapter 9 - Passion.... including hot threesome action

Once More, With Feeling, Act V .... The final act of the Seto/Katsuya musical

Young Hearts, Run Free, Chapter 9 - Stagnancy ... Katsuya takes more of the potion to eradicate his feelings for Seto

Only in My Dreams, Chapter 9 - Ockam's Razor ... Seto and Katsuya learn that the simpliest answer is the correct one

* * *

So, leave your review. See you in the next chatper

Sparky


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